Updated July 29, 2025 at 5:09 PM CDT

President Trump offered new details Tuesday over what led to his falling out with Jeffrey Epstein some two decades ago, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that the rupture had to do with employees who worked at the spa at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has repeatedly said he kicked Epstein out of his club for hiring workers away from Mar-a-Lago. When asked if the workers who were hired away were young women, Trump responded, “the answer is yes, they were.”

“People were taken out of the spa — hired by him — in other words, gone. And other people would come and complain, ‘This guy is taking people from the spa,'” Trump said. “I didn’t know that. And then when I heard about it, I told him, I said, ‘Listen, we don’t want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa, I don’t want them taking people.’ And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, ‘Out of here.’ ”

Trump was also asked if one of the employees taken by Epstein was Virginia Giuffre, who was among those who accused Epstein of sexual abuse and became an advocate for sex trafficking survivors. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year.

“I don’t know. I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her,” Trump told reporters. “And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.”

In a 2016 deposition during her suit against Epstein associate Ghislain Maxwell, Giuffre said she worked at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2000, when she was 16 years old.

It’s unclear when Trump’s fallout with Epstein over the employees took place. Trump has long maintained that his friendship with Epstein ended before the disgraced financier was indicted for soliciting prostitution in 2006.

The remarks came at the end of trip to Scotland that was dominated at times by questions about Trump’s history with Epstein — questions that came even as the president announced a preliminary new trade deal with the European Union on Sunday. Despite being an ocean away, Trump could not escape the political drama back in Washington, D.C., over his administration’s handling of the files of the convicted sex offender.

On Monday, Trump was asked by reporters about the timing of the trade announcement and whether it was an attempt to change the subject.

“You gotta be kidding with that,” Trump said, adding, “that had nothing to do with it.”

Trump faced even more questions as he discussed the food crisis in Gaza while meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump explained that he cut off his friendship with Epstein for hiring workers away from his Florida club, calling what Epstein did “inappropriate.”

“He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again. And I threw him out of the place persona non-grata,” Trump said.

While much of the pressure for more information is coming from the president’s own MAGA base, Trump continues to insist the controversy is a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion by his political enemies.

Maxwell asks for immunity

Still, the White House has struggled to move past the Epstein story as many of the president’s own allies in Congress continue to press for answers – including from Maxwell, the longtime Epstein confidant currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

Several House Republicans have called on the Trump administration to release Justice Department files from the Epstein investigation, and last week, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to Maxwell for a deposition.

On Tuesday, attorneys for Maxwell asked the committee for immunity in exchange for her testimony. In a letter to the panel obtained by NPR, her legal team also said they want to postpone the appearance in the hopes the Supreme Court will take up her case first.

In the letter, Maxwell’s attorneys said they initially believed she would invoke her 5th Amendment rights or refuse to testify. However, they said testifying within certain parameters could change that.

“We would like to find a way to cooperate with Congress if a fair and safe path forward can be established,” attorneys David Oscar Markus, Leah Saffian and Melissa Madrigal wrote on Maxwell’s behalf in the 3-page letter.

In the subpoena, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called for Maxwell’s testimony on August 11th, but her attorneys said that’s too soon. They argued that the Supreme Court could take up her case when they reconvene in October.

The committee said Maxwell’s ask for immunity goes too far.

“The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” a committee spokesperson told NPR.

The panel had hoped to sit down with Maxwell at the Tallahassee Florida prison where she’s serving her prison sentence, and have not ruled out a delay in the high-profile sit-down.

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Updated July 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM PDT

The United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state by September unless Israel commits to peace in the Gaza Strip, stopping the annexation of the West Bank and other measures, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday.

This follows an announcement last week by French President Emmanuel Macron that France plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Starmer said he has long supported negotiations to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel — known as a two-state solution — to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But that solution is now under threat, he said.

“So today, as part of this process towards peace, I can confirm the U.K. will recognize the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution,” Starmer said in an address on Tuesday.

Starmer also called on Hamas, the Palestinian militant and political organization, to release the hostages it seized in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which prompted a full-scale Israeli military invasion of Gaza. He said Hamas should “sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.”

The announcement came as international alarm has grown over starvation and deaths in the Gaza Strip, after nearly 22 months of war between Israel and Hamas in the territory. A United Nations-backed food security group on Tuesday warned that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding, as the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the war topped 60,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Starmer said he discussed his plans in separate calls Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Israeli government, which opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, criticized Britain’s move. “Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims. A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on social media.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, who met with Britain’s foreign secretary in New York, said he welcomed Britain’s move, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Mustafa and President Abbas are part of the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank and is separate from Hamas, which runs Gaza. Palestinian leaders want the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem to form a Palestinian state.

Starmer won applause from members of his Labour Party. But some members of the opposition Conservative Party said the policy did not put enough conditions on Hamas. BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen said it was a “big change in British foreign policy.”

More than 140 countries, including several in Europe, already recognize Palestinian statehood. The U.K. and France would be the biggest Western powers and the first members of the Group of Seven leading economies to do so.

The U.K. announcement follows a meeting Monday between Starmer and President Trump in Scotland, where the war in Gaza and mass starvation in the territory were leading issues discussed.

When asked whether Starmer should join France in recognizing a Palestinian state, Trump told reporters: “I’m not going to take a position. I don’t mind him [Starmer] taking a position. I’m looking for getting people fed right now.”

After French President Macron announced his government would recognize Palestinian statehood, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media: “This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda.” In a statement, the State Department said moves like France’s were “counterproductive gestures” that undercut U.S. diplomatic efforts on the war in Gaza.

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Afghans caught in mass deportations in Iran face an uncertain future at home

toggle caption Elise Blanchard/Getty Images

A few weeks ago, Barakzai, an Afghan refugee, noticed that her usually friendly coworkers at a clothing store in the Iranian capital, Tehran, began treating her differently. They became cold and distant, she says.

“They don’t view Afghans the way they used to. They see Afghans as enemies,” she says. “They tell us: ”You are a spy. Our government is right. You should be fired.'”

We are identifying Barakzai by her last name only to protect her identity because she is still in Iran and fears deportation.

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Earlier this year, Iran ordered Afghans living illegally in the country to leave, saying it can no longer support them. Of the roughly 6 million Afghans living in Iran, 2 million are without legal status.

Since then, more than 1.3 million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Iran has redoubled its effort since last month’s Israel-Iran war, Barakzai says, using disinformation to label Afghans as Israeli spies to help its goal of removing thousands from the country.

The government campaign has also targeted Afghans’ housing, employment and banking.

“They don’t allow Afghans to withdraw their money from the banks, or have the right to work,” she says. “They even said that anyone who employed Afghans would be imprisoned and even fined. And they forced landlords to stop renting to Afghans.”

The immigration raids in public spaces have terrified Afghans.

“At the metro station, I saw the police take Afghan men and beat the women,” Barakzai says. “I couldn’t raise my voice, because I was in danger myself. Right now, I pretend I am not Afghan, so that no one will recognize me.”

The public raids have had a desired effect: Thousands of Afghans are heading every day from Iran to Afghanistan through the Islam Qala border crossing between the two countries. Some arrive in buses and are offloaded at the border; others pack up on their own and leave.

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“We went from 5,000 people a day to 30[000], 40[000], and even on some days, 50,000 people coming back per day from Iran,” says Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Kabul. “What surprised us at the moment is the sheer scale and in particular the intensity of returns from Iran.”

Samira Sayed Rahman, the advocacy director for Save the Children in Afghanistan, says some people arrive at the crossing wearing one shoe because they lost the other in a deportation raid.

“The lucky ones have had to pack up their lives overnight,” she says. “Others have had to leave with just the clothes on their back.”

The crisis within Afghanistan

Iran isn’t the only country expelling Afghans. Afghans are coming back also from Pakistan and, most recently, Tajikistan.

“What we’re facing at the moment is really a crisis on three borders,” says UNHCR’s Jamal.

Accommodating more than 1.6 million people returning from all those countries has presented an enormous challenge to Afghanistan. A 2024 United Nations report found that 23.7 million people — over half of the population — required humanitarian assistance last year.

It’s likely to get worse: In addition, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated all but two State Department and USAID programs in Afghanistan, one of which expired at the end of June. In total, 22 programs worth nearly $1.03 billion were shuttered, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Aid workers say they fear the returnees refugees will make the challenge more pressing.

“Many families already in Afghanistan can barely feed their own children,” Rahman says. “And now they’re also being asked to help absorb thousands, millions more.”

In addition to cuts in U.S. foreign aid, a high unemployment rate has further pushed people into poverty. Banking restrictions and sanctions have put pressures on business. The loss of remittances from expatriate workers, a vital part of Afghanistan’s economy, is also hurting.

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“Even those in the private sector have been struggling to create jobs, struggling to do imports and exports because of the banking restrictions that are in place,” Rahman says.

Those returning have more questions than answers.

“They didn’t know how they were going to be able to feed their family,” Rahman says. “Where are they going to establish themselves? They were scared.”

A New Reality

Many Afghan women returning to Afghanistan face a new and restrictive government that doesn’t allow them to work, study or even go outside unaccompanied.

“Certainly for the women…the girls have been through schooling and they are really in a state of shock,” Jamal, the UNHCR representative, says.

Jamshidi, 24, is one such woman. We are only using her last name to protect her identity because of fear of reprisals from the Taliban. Four years ago, she was forced to interrupt her education at Herat University in Afghanistan when the Taliban came to power and banned schooling for women. She fled to Iran to continue her education. As she was about to graduate with a degree in political science from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran, the war between Israel and Iran broke out. She had to leave again.

“It was very difficult psychologically, because I was planning on getting a bachelor’s degree and thinking what kind of work to do,” she says. “And then there is war there and you have to go back to your own country. It hurt us a lot.”

The UNHCR estimates that if the rate of returnees continues, it will reach 3 million Afghans by the end of the year.

Back in Tehran, Barakzai, the Afghan woman who is staying on in Iran, is trying to leave her apartment as little as possible to avoid deportation.

“The real war,” she says, “is not between Iran and Israel, it’s between Iran and the Afghan refugees.”

Since President Trump’s return to office, images of masked federal agents carrying out immigration arrests have become a familiar — and for many Americans, deeply disturbing — sight. The Department of Homeland Security has endorsed the agents’ right to wear masks, but some Democrats want to make it illegal.

In Congress, Democrats have introduced several bills, including the No Secret Police Act , which would bar federal agents from concealing their faces with “home-made, non-tactical masks.”

As long as Republicans are in the majority, Congressional action is unlikely. At the state level, though, legislation is advancing. In California, lawmakers are considering a bill that would limit the ability of all law enforcement officers — federal, state and local — to wear masks that aren’t required for medical or tactical reasons, or undercover work.

Other Democratic-majority legislatures may follow suit. In New York, Manhattan Assemblyman Tony Simone is one of the supporters of the ” Mandating End of Lawless Tactics ” Act.

“Where police wear masks, democracy loses its face,” says Simone. “I have frightened constituents telling me this is not how a democracy should be acting.”

If states pass such measures, it’s unclear whether they would apply to federal agents. Generally speaking, states may not regulate federal law enforcement. But Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley, says the restriction on states is not absolute — especially in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the western U.S.

“The test is, if a federal agent acts in an ‘objectively unreasonable manner,’ the state may bring a criminal prosecution,” Chemerinsky says. “So I think the question is, would a state prohibition on law enforcement wearing masks interfere with the performance of their duties? Is not wearing masks objectively reasonable?”

Jim Dudley, a former commander with the San Francisco Police Department, says most officers don’t need to hide their faces.

“Probably 90% of the time, it won’t be an issue,” he says. “The other 10% are those situations where now you really have to recalibrate how you handled things in the past.”

Dudley points to new digital threats, especially doxing — when activists publish personal information online — as a new challenge for officers.

“You’re exposing police officers online at protests, where there are intimidation tactics to get police to stand down,” Dudley says. “So it’s an advantage to protesters, or anti-law enforcement groups, because [the mask ban] is a restriction on the police that is not a restriction on the public.”

California’s largest police advocacy organization, the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), has come out against the legislation, known as SB 627 . In a prepared statement, PORAC President Brian Marvel criticized state lawmakers for targeting local police in response to federal actions.

“We are not an extension of the federal government. We are a part of California’s communities, which we are proud to serve and call home. Using local law enforcement as a punching bag to grandstand against the federal government should not be an acceptable practice from our state leaders.”

Marvel also warned that the bill could inadvertently ban personal protective equipment used during riots or hazardous conditions.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has declined NPR’s requests for interviews. But in public statements, agency leaders have defended the use of masks, citing the threat of online targeting. One anti-ICE website lists people identified as immigration agents, with names and photos organized by state. ICE claims assaults on its personnel have increased eight-fold this year , though the agency hasn’t provided data to link those attacks directly to doxing efforts.

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President Trump was preparing to hash out the final details of a trade deal with European Council President Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf course on Scotland’s western coast when he took a detour to boast about the cavernous room where they were sitting.

“You know, we just built this ballroom, and we’re building a great ballroom at the White House,” Trump said.

As Trump juggles multiple international and domestic crises in his second term, he is also carving out time to put his aesthetic stamp on the White House itself. And as a real estate developer turned commander in chief, Trump says he is uniquely positioned to make a major addition to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

“No president knew how to build a ballroom,” Trump told von der Leyen. “I could take this one, drop it right down there, and it would be beautiful.”

Andrew Harnik / Getty Images Europe / Getty Images Europe President Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet in the ballroom of Trump’s golf course at Turnberry Scotland, on July 28, 2005.

Trump has already made the Oval Office much more golden, added new medallions to the light fixtures in the Cabinet Room, laid paving stones over where the grass used to be in the Rose Garden, and erected new flagpoles on the north and south lawns.

But there’s one thing he really wants, that thus far has been out of reach: a ballroom.

“We are going to make and build a ballroom, which they’ve wanted for probably 100 years at the White House,” Trump said in May on NBC’s Meet the Press.

“We have three or four different concepts and we’re working with great architects,” Trump added.

Andrew Harnik / Getty Images North America / Getty Images North America President Trump points to additions he has made to the light fixtures in the Cabinet Room during a meeting with his cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The White House says no final decisions have been made, but aides talk about it in terms of “when” and not “if.” Trump told columnist Miranda Devine that he thinks construction could begin in a couple of months.

“The president has a spectacular vision to build a big, beautiful ballroom on the White House complex, and discussions about how to execute this plan are ongoing,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.

1 of 4 — President Trump Delivers Remarks At AI Summit In Washington DC Work continues in paving over the White House Rose Garden lawn on July 23, 2025. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images North America 2 of 4 — President Trump, Joined By First Lady Melania Trump, Signs TAKE IT DOWN Act Into Law This file photo from a May 19, 2025 event shows the Rose Garden as it was before work began to replace the grass with paving stones. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images North America 3 of 4 — US-POLITICS-TRUMP President Trump speaks with a labor crew working in the Rose Garden of the White House on June 9, 2025. Brendan Smialowski / AFP 4 of 4 — US-POLITICS-TRUMP President Trump speaks with workers doing construction on the Rose Garden of the White House on June 20, 2025. Saul Loeb / AFP

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Trump’s ballroom quest predates his political career

The White House ballroom is something that Trump has been talking about for at least 15 years, actively pitching himself to manage the project long before he ran for office.

“I was going to build a beautiful, beautiful ballroom like I have at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump told a group of female athletes gathered in the East Room for a signing ceremony earlier this year. “It was going to cost about $100 million. I offered to do it, and I never heard back.”

Win McNamee / Getty Images North America / Getty Images North America The ballroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, as seen on March 15, 2016.

That offer went to David Axelrod, who was, at the time, a senior adviser to then-President Barack Obama. “An intermediary reached out and said that [Trump] wanted to speak with me,” Axelrod told NPR.

Trump’s call came in 2010, in the middle of a crisis. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig was spewing crude off the coast of Louisiana and Axelrod said Trump was offering to help. Once that situation was resolved, Trump called Axelrod again, this time with another offer.

“‘You know, you have these state dinners and you have them in these little tents,'” Axelrod recalled Trump telling him. “And he said, ‘You know, I build ballrooms. I build the greatest ballrooms and you can come down to Florida to see them.'”

Axelrod said he didn’t really know what to do with Trump’s proposal, so he handed it off to a colleague, and he said he regrets not closing the loop.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP / AFP President Trump in the Oval Office on June 5, 2025. He has overhauled the decor of the room with gold ornaments, more framed portraits, and a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump wants a room that can hold a lot more people — and he hates tents

Trump hasn’t forgotten about that Obama-era slight. “I offered to build a ballroom,” Trump said in 2016 at a campaign event in Ohio. “They turned it down. I was going to put up $100 million to build a ballroom at the White House, because having a tent is not that good.”

Trump has said he wants a ballroom that holds a thousand people. The largest event space at the White House now is the East Room, which only seats about 200 for dinner.

So, when the White House needs more capacity for a state dinner, they go outdoors, usually putting up large fancy tents, complete with flooring.

“You have to make it so it doesn’t look like you’re just outside sitting on a lawn … the decor with the flowers and the lighting and the chandelier, to tablescapes,” said Deesha Dyer, who was White House social secretary in the Obama White House. “So, it’s a rather large operation.”

1 of 7 — President And Mrs. Obama Host White House Dinner For US-Africa Leaders Summit Guests inside the tent on the South Lawn built for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit on August 5, 2014. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images North America 2 of 7 — President And Mrs. Obama Host White House Dinner For US-Africa Leaders Summit Guests arrive for a dinner for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit on the South Lawn of the White House on August 5, 2014. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images North America 3 of 7 — Obamas Host Indian Prime Minister Singh At The White House Gursharan Kaur, the wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaks to President Barack Obama during a state dinner on November 24, 2009. White House handout / Getty Images North America 4 of 7 — Obamas Host Indian Prime Minister Singh At The White House President Obama’s first state dinner on November 24, 2009, for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was held in this tent on the South Lawn. White House handout / Getty Images North America 5 of 7 — Obamas Greet Mexican Counterparts As They Arrive For State Dinner A White House staff member sets a table in a tent on the South Lawn of the White House before a state dinner on May 19, 2010 honoring Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images North America 6 of 7 — US-FRANCE-DIPLOMACY-POLITICS-BIDEN-MACRON Musician Jon Batiste performs during President Joe Biden’s state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron, held in a tent on the South Lawn of the White House on December 1, 2022. Saul Loeb / AFP 7 of 7 — US-AUSTRALIA-DIPLOMACY-POLITICS-TRUMP-MORRISON President Trump held a state dinner for Australian President Scott Morrison in the Rose Garden on September 20, 2019. Brendan Smialowski / AFP

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There are many examples of White Houses hosting state dinners in tents over the decades. In recent times, Obama hosted several state dinners in tents, including for leaders from India, Mexico, the Nordic nations, and for a summit with leaders from Africa. Former President Joe Biden held four of his six state dinners in outdoor pavilions.

To Dyer, a big ballroom feels more like what you’d find at a Hilton than the People’s House. And with limited real estate, there’s a risk that plopping a new permanent structure on the South Lawn could obstruct the view of the iconic building.

“I’m not that tied to tradition, to be honest,” said Dyer. “But there is a certain kind of tacky that can kind of be put in there and that may, you know, cross the line.”

It’s not clear why Trump didn’t build his ballroom in his first term. But he is unbound in his second, aesthetically and otherwise.

“I think we’ve outgrown the tent stuff, right, don’t you think?” Trump said recently, adding with a laugh, “We’ll see if Trump will approve it.”

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