Politics

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday gave more details about why his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein went south, and told reporters he hasn’t been asked for a Ghislaine Maxwell pardon.

Trump continues to face questions on Epstein, and his administration’s handling of files related to the deceased financier and convicted sex offender accused of sex trafficking minors, even overseas during a working visit to Scotland.

In a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump’s golf property in Turnberry, Trump was pressed if a pardon for Maxwell was something he would consider and continued not to rule it out.

“Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon,” Trump said. “But nobody’s approached me with it, nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news, that — that aspect of it. But right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”

Maxwell, a longtime Epstein associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, sat down for two meetings last week with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. ABC News reported that sources say it was Maxwell who initiated the talks, and that she was granted limited immunity.

Blanche has not revealed what the Justice Department learned from the some nine-hour interview, only saying he would share additional information at the “appropriate time.” Maxwell’s attorney has said she was asked about 100 different people during their conversations.

Trump was also asked on Monday about parts of his relationship with Epstein, particularly their falling out.

“But for years, I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t talk because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help, and I said, ‘don’t ever do that again.’ 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.”

“I threw him out and that was it. I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth,” Trump continued.

Trump did not offer any specifics, but as ABC News has previously reported, Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein accuser who died by suicide in April, had accused Maxwell of recruiting her while she was working as a locker-room attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000 and bringing her to Epstein’s home for a massage.

Trump went on to say he never went to Epstein’s island, and instead listed other high-profile individuals he claimed went to the island, including former President Bill Clinton. Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

“I never had the privilege of going to his island,” Trump said, “and I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down, I didn’t want to go to his island.”

The president repeated his denial of a Wall Street Journal report that he allegedly sent Epstein a letter that included a drawing of a naked woman in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday, which the Journal reported was included in a birthday book made for Epstein that contained letters from numerous Epstein associates.

Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and claims the letter does not exist. Dow Jones, the owner of the Journal, has said it has “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting” and will defend against the lawsuit.

“I don’t do drawings. I’m not a drawing person,” Trump said on Monday. “I don’t do drawings. Sometimes you would say, would you draw a building? And I’ll draw four lines and a little roof, you know, for a charity stuff. But I’m not a drawing person. I don’t do drawings of women, that I can tell you.”

Meanwhile, House Democrats are requesting a copy of the alleged “birthday book” and an attorney who has represented hundreds of Epstein’s victims said that the estate was in possession of the book. ABC News has not confirmed the existence of the letter Trump allegedly sent to Epstein for the book.

Trump on Monday also continued to say, without providing evidence, that the controversy was a “hoax” perpetrated by his political enemies, including former President Joe Biden and former FBI Director James Comey.

“Well, I haven’t been overly interested in it,” Trump said of the Epstein files. “You know, it’s something, it’s a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor of North Carolina, officially launched his Senate bid for Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’ open seat in 2026 on Monday.

“I’m Roy Cooper, and I know that today, for too many Americans, the middle class feels like a distant dream. Meanwhile, the biggest corporations and the richest Americans have grabbed unimaginable wealth at your expense. It’s time for that to change,” Cooper said in an announcement video posted on X.

In his announcement, Cooper said he believes that the next election will determine “if we even have a middle class in America anymore.” He doesn’t mention President Donald Trump directly.

“Right now, our country is facing a moment as fragile as any I can remember, and the decisions we make in the next election will determine if we even have a middle class in America anymore. I never really wanted to go to Washington. I just wanted to serve the people of North Carolina, right here where I’ve lived all my life. But these are not ordinary times. Politicians in D.C. are running up our debt, ripping away our health care, disrespecting our veterans, cutting health for the poor, and even putting Medicare and Social Security at risk just to give tax breaks to billionaires. That’s wrong, and I’ve had enough.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) responded to the news in a statement slamming Cooper as both “far left” and anti-Trump, alongside attempting to tie him to former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Roy Cooper is a Democrat lapdog who spent his time as Governor sabotaging President Trump, doing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ bidding,” NRSC Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez said partly in a statement. “When Hurricane Helene hit, Cooper’s gross mismanagement left over 100 North Carolinians dead and an estimated $53 billion in damage to businesses, homes, and infrastructure. North Carolina wants a senator who will champion working families, safety, and American values, not an incompetent, far-left career politician like Cooper who will wreck everything they care about.”

As for the Republicans’ pick, multiple sources tell ABC News that RNC Chair Michael Whatley is planning to launch a bid after being asked directly by Trump to run. Trump is hopeful that Whatley, who led the North Carolina Republican Party before becoming RNC chair, has the knowledge of the state, the national profile and the network of relationships to run a strong campaign.

Tillis said in June that he would not seek reelection, citing “the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington” and as Trump railed against him for opposing his signature megabill.

ABC’s Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court should hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her 2021 sex trafficking conviction because the government has an “obligation to honor” a non-prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein that inoculated Maxwell from any criminal charges, her lawyers argued in a brief to the Supreme Court Monday.

“Plea and non-prosecution agreements resolve nearly every federal case. They routinely include promises that extend to others—co-conspirators, family members, potential witnesses. If those promises mean different things in different parts of the country, then trust in our system collapses,” the brief said.

Federal prosecutors have argued that the non-prosecution agreement applied only in Florida and did not bind New York, where charges against him, and subsequently Maxwell, were brought.

Maxwell’s attorneys argued the terms of the NPA Epstein signed were unqualified.

“It is not geographically limited to the Southern District of Florida, it is not conditioned on the co-conspirators being known by the government at the time, it does not depend on what any particular government attorney may have had in his or her head about who might be a co-conspirator, and it contains no other caveat or exception. This should be the end of the discussion,” the defense brief said.

The Justice Department has urged the Supreme Court to reject Maxwell’s petition even as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche agreed to meet with Maxwell last week.

Prosecutors have argued Maxwell cannot enforce the NPA because she was not a party to it. The defense disagreed.

“Petitioner’s alleged status as Epstein’s co-conspirator was the entire basis of her prosecution,” the defense brief said.

“No one is above the law—not even the Southern District of New York. Our government made a deal, and it must honor it. The United States cannot promise immunity with one hand in Florida and prosecute with the other in New York. President Trump built his legacy in part on the power of a deal—and surely he would agree that when the United States gives its word, it must stand by it. We are appealing not only to the Supreme Court but to the President himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s crimes, especially when the government promised she would not be prosecuted,” Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement.

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(AUSTIN, Texas.) — The national Democratic Party is ramping up its offensive against potential mid-decade redistricting in Texas with a new organizing effort launching Monday, according to plans shared first with ABC News.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) says it will deploy 30,000 volunteers to make calls to “persuadable Republican Texas voters” in Republican-held districts to discuss the push by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas state legislators — and rubber-stamped by President Donald Trump — to consider redrawing Texas’ congressional map, which the DNC claims in a statement is an attempt to “rig the Texas maps at the behest of Donald Trump.”

The group will also have volunteer organizers contact state representatives, share public comments, and organize both in person and virtually.

This endeavor from the Democrats comes as Texas lawmakers convene for a special legislative session called by Abbott, who set an agenda that included considering congressional district redistricting “in light of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice.”

In a letter earlier this month, the Department of Justice told Texas that four majority-minority districts represented by Democrats needed to be redrawn, arguing they were “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.”

The Texas legislature is also set to tackle flood relief after the devastating flash flooding that killed more than 130 people earlier this month, taxes, and standardized testing during the session, which can last a maximum of 30 days.

Trump told reporters recently he wants his party to pick up five seats if Texas redraws its congressional map, and has suggested that other Republican-led states could follow suit.

Democrats claim that the efforts to redistrict is meant to give Republicans an advantage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The DNC says it has already sent text messages to recruit Texans to go to field hearings and to share stories through public comments about how redrawing the districts could impact them. DNC Chair Ken Martin traveled to the state last week to strategize with state leaders.

“The DNC is all hands on deck to hold Donald Trump and Greg Abbott accountable for their scheme to use the tragic Texas floods as cover to redraw the Texas maps in a last-ditch effort to save the Republican majority,” Martin told ABC News in a statement.

“Republicans know that the only way they hold onto the majority is by rigging the system but it won’t work. Democrats will hold Republicans across the country accountable for their vote to rip away health care and food access and that starts with organizing from the ground up,” he added.

Texas state Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas Democratic House Caucus Leader, wrote in a statement thanking the DNC shared with ABC News, “Their new initiative to contact persuadable Republican voters across the state and deploy organizers directly against Republican state reps is exactly the type of partnership Texas Democrats need.”

Monday’s effort comes ahead of the third in a series of field hearings about redistricting being held in different areas of Texas, and as some Democratic governors including California Gov. Gavin Newsom say they are keeping options open for possibly redrawing their state’s own Congressional districts, but many would face logistical and legal hurdles to redraw their maps mid-cycle.

In a statement earlier this month responding to Democratic claims about the redistricting effort, Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, wrote, “While partisan activists focus solely on political issues, Governor Abbott is dedicated to delivering results on issues important to Texans, such as flood relief, property tax cuts, and the elimination of the STAAR [standardized] test. The Governor looks forward to the legislature addressing these topics, along with other critical issues, during this special session.”

The Texas Republican Party, meanwhile, has praised the inclusion of redistricting in the special session as “an essential step to preserving GOP control in Congress and advancing the President Trump’s America First agenda.”

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(NEW YORK) — Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said Sunday he stands with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s calls to subpoena Jeffrey Epstein’s estate for documents related to his case, including, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, a birthday letter to Epstein allegedly written by President Donald Trump in 2003.

“Well, I think we should get a lot more than just the book. Let’s get the financial records of the estate. Where is it — follow the money, as they say up here,” Massie told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “We should look at the plea bargain. Open that up. See what was the deal? What was the deal that was cut? I think there’s a lot more than just that letter.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on a birthday message Trump allegedly wrote in a book of messages for Epstein’s 50th birthday — the president denies it exists and has sued the Journal for defamation over the report. ABC News has not been able to confirm the existence of the letter.

Massie and Khanna’s joint legislation would force a House vote on the release of the Epstein files. However, Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House on an August recess a day early, effectively skirting the vote. Massie and Khanna are now seeking a discharge petition, which with 218 votes from House members, would bypass Johnson.

Massie said: “It would force a full release of the files. It has the force of law. It’s not a subpoena. It’s not a ‘Pretty please, would you release the files?’ It’s the force of law and, it’s got protections to redact victims’ names and to prevent, you know, release of child pornography.”

Khanna added the Democratic interest in this case is not new, despite claims that the party has latched on to the case as it causes infighting among some of Trump’s MAGA base.

“We have been pushing for transparency during the Biden administration, both in 2021 and 2024 the court ordered release of documents, but Donald Trump raised the stakes and he did it in a way in the campaign that was justified. He said, ‘Look, when I get there, I’m going to release the files,'” Khanna said.

 

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas Democrats on Friday traveled to California and Illinois for meetings with Democratic governors who have criticized Republicans’ plans to redraw the Texas congressional map to protect the GOP House majority.

The day of meetings with Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois comes as Texas Democrats are weighing a walkout from the ongoing special legislative session where redistricting could be considered in Austin – in a bid to obstruct and delay the efforts.

“They’re changing the rules in the middle of the game… this is cheating,” Pritzker said on Friday of the GOP-led effort in Texas. “Everything is on the table.”

Texas state Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, told ABC News she was hoping to receive guidance on how to navigate the redistricting situation from Newsom, who has frequently sparred with the Trump administration.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, proclaiming a special legislative session that focused largely on flood relief, included redistricting on the agenda “in light of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice.”

In a letter earlier this month, the Trump Justice Department told Texas that four majority minority districts represented by Democrats needed to be redrawn, citing a recent federal court decision and arguing they were now “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.”

President Donald Trump has rubber-stamped the Texas effort, saying he wants his party to pick up five seats if Texas redraws its congressional maps. (States redo their maps every decade with new Census data, and rarely attempt to do so absent a court order mid-decade.)

Taken with Republican-led redistricting efforts in Ohio and other GOP-controlled states, the changes to Texas’ map could help Republicans insulate their fragile House majority from the historic midterm backlash presidents traditionally face from voters.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday suggested his state could revisit its map, which Republicans remade after the 2020 Census, because, in part, of “the way the population has shifted around Florida just since the census was done in 2020 — I think the state is malapportioned.”

In response, Democratic leaders in states like California, Illinois and New Jersey have raised the possibility of revisiting their maps if Texas moves forward, though some states face more legal and constitutional restrictions than Texas to do so.

While there has been speculation that Texas Democrats could interrupt the special session by walking out or breaking quorum, the travels on Friday do not break quorum and members are not framing it as a walkout.

In the state House, Democrats would need 51 members to agree to break quorum, and they’d all risk fines for doing so. The effort, which Democrats have attempted in the past, would be unlikely to do more than delay Republicans’ efforts to redraw the maps.

“I am more than willing to participate in a quorum break,” State Rep. Gina Hinojosa told ABC News on Friday while cautioning that discussion of one is premature.

Some Democrats, who for years have advocated for nonpartisan redistricting, say the party should respond in kind to GOP efforts.

“I think one of the things we can say while maintaining a reform principle is that we believe in an independent commission and independent redistricting, but that should only kick in when Texas agrees to it, or when Florida agrees to it,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

The chair of the Texas redistricting committee, Republican state Rep. Cody Vasut, said during a Thursday hearing that “it is prudent and proper” for the committee to deal with items the governor put on the agenda, and that “we have no plans to change any particular district.”

Others are waiting to see if Texas actually moves forward with changes to its map.

“We have to think about what should our response be, and how do we make sure that we have a response that’s actually meeting voters with what they’re hoping for, instead of actually making a system worse for voters,” Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., told ABC News.

Experts have told ABC News that either party could risk backlash from voters or in court, depending on how they redraw their state maps. And efforts to make Democrat-held districts in Texas more friendly to GOP pickup could weaken Republicans’ hold on neighboring red districts.

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(NEW YORK) — He proposed free crosstown buses. He pushed for steep tax hikes on the wealthy—including an 18.5% property tax increase— insisting none of his rich friends threatened to leave the city over higher taxes. He championed millions to build supermarkets in long-neglected neighborhoods.

And under his plan, city workers could give privately raised cash to New Yorkers booking dental appointments or keeping their children in school.

These progressive policies, however, are not from New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Experts said they were from Michael Bloomberg, New York’s billionaire former Republican mayor and a prominent supporter of Andrew Cuomo’s run for mayor.

As Mamdani reshapes the city’s political map, some experts told ABC News a striking parallel is emerging. Behind the labels of “socialist” and “technocrat,” both men share aligned goals: taxing the rich during crises, promoting expansive transit ideas, and bold plans to bring fresh food to low-income communities. Still, experts said, even when policies overlap, most New Yorkers do not see them as similar.

They point out many people know Mamdani as an organizer who has posted that capitalism is a form of theft; Bloomberg as a businessman who built a fortune managing the free market that Mamdani is critiquing. Mamdani identifies himself as a democratic socialist and has stated, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires.” Bloomberg is one of the richest people in the world.

Neither Mamdani nor Bloomberg provided statements to ABC News.

Mamdani recently acknowledged in a private meeting with business leaders that he hopes to emulate Bloomberg on a few issues — even as he draws fire from many in the business community, sources familiar told ABC News.

“There’s a resistance from a lot of powerful forces … And it doesn’t have to do with Mamdani’s politics, it has to do with the fact that he doesn’t come from them,” Democratic strategist Peter Feld told ABC News.

Bloomberg spent $8 million backing Cuomo’s failed bid to become the Democratic nominee for mayor.

“If you said which of these things go together, you probably wouldn’t pick Bloomberg and Mamdani,” Christine Quinn, the former city council speaker who helped Bloomberg pass key policies, told ABC News. “But when you peel away at the onion, there’s a lot of similarities.”

Free buses

As early as 2007, Bloomberg spoke about his public transit goals.

During his 2009 re-election campaign, Bloomberg proposed making some Manhattan crosstown buses free of charge. An archived screenshot from his campaign website states, “The MTA should eliminate fare collection…”

At a campaign event, he called the MTA “bloated” and “inefficient.”

The New York Times contrasted observers calling the proposal “radical,” and a Regional Plan Association official saying it “captured people’s imaginations.”

A Mamdani campaign pillar calls for free fares on all bus lines. After piloting a fare-free program on five lines as an assemblymember, Mamdani compared it to Kansas City and Boston’s free programs. Cuomo’s bus plan for mayor includes evaluating the “expansion of a fare-free bus pilot program” that Mamdani championed, and expanding a 50% discount on public transportation for low-income residents.

Regional Plan Association’s Kate Slevin, who served in city government under Bloomberg, said she “can’t remember other mayoral candidates” with a similar plan for free buses. Slevin told ABC News, “When it comes to fares, those are the only two I can remember.”

After Bloomberg won, a transportation website reported he removed the proposal from his website. The plan was never implemented.

Both men faced criticism over feasibility – the MTA controls bus fares.

Mamdani has not publicly highlighted Bloomberg’s old bus proposal, but he’s aware of at least one Bloomberg transportation initiative: in a recent video about expanding dedicated bus lanes, he said, “It’s not a new proposal, Mayor Bloomberg suggested it in 2008.”

Taxing the wealthy

After 9/11, during New York City’s financial crisis, Mayor Bloomberg increased property taxes by 18.5%, short of his original 25% push.

Months later, Bloomberg raised sales and income taxes. Single filers earning over $100,000 were among those impacted.

“[Bloomberg] knew that to make New York livable, you had to raise taxes, and he put that as a priority, rather than to simply cut the budget and vital services,” NYU Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, Mitchell Moss, told ABC News. “Taxes were not a peripheral part of his fiscal policy. They were a central part.”

In a 2007 USC speech, Bloomberg reflected, “As a last resort, we even raised property taxes and income taxes on high-earners,” recalling backlash, saying “raising taxes didn’t make me the most popular…”

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to raise taxes on the wealthy to fix subways, but was not successful.

Mamdani proposes permanent additional 2% tax increases for earners making over $1 million and raising corporate taxes. Bloomberg framed his hikes as temporary, specifically tied to emergencies.

However, even Bloomberg acknowledged that his tax revenue supported broader ambitions.

“Mike Bloomberg raised taxes following 9/11 out of fiscal necessity, not ideology,” Ed Skyler, a senior executive at Citigroup and former deputy mayor for Bloomberg, told ABC News.

At USC, he said increases, “allowed us to close the huge budget deficits, balance the books and continue investing in the future: building new schools, revitalizing old industrial areas, creating the largest affordable housing program in the nation, supporting our cultural institutions, parks, libraries, and universities, and expanding world-wide advertising to attract businesses and tourists.”

Food policy for low-income communities

Under Bloomberg, starting in 2009, dozens of FRESH grocery stores opened. Many are still operating today. The program offered public subsidies to private grocery operators to boost access to fresh food in underserved neighborhoods.

Quinn, then city council speaker and a key player in passing the program, said they always asked: “how do we use the powers of the city of New York to jolt the private sector into action?”

Bloomberg frequently sought to merge public and private efforts—through initiatives like his Green Carts program—which supplied permits for vendors selling fresh produce in “food deserts,” and Health Bucks, which enabled discounted food to be purchased at farmers markets.

Mamdani proposes one municipally owned, nonprofit grocery store in each borough, offering goods at wholesale prices. On “Plain English,” Mamdani said his plan would cost less than FRESH.

CUNY School of Public Health Professor Nevin Cohen said he believes Mamdani’s plan would cost less than Bloomberg’s, too. He wrote a piece titled “Guess What? Government Is Already in the Grocery Business,” mentioning existing markets in Madison and Atlanta.

Mamdani’s idea isn’t new to the city. Former Mayor Fiorello La Guardia created the first public market network and several still remain today. Under Bloomberg, one such market—Essex Market—was rezoned and relocated to a new, modern space.

Cohen said Bloomberg and Mamdani’s plans “are not just similar. They actually had the same underlying goal.”

Cohen said, “Bloomberg very much intervened in the market” and sent an old advertisement of Bloomberg, dressed as a nanny, labeled, “You only thought you lived in the land of the free.”

Quinn also notes that many of Bloomberg’s plans faced resistance, but once implemented, became part of the city’s fabric.

“What is radical on Monday often becomes widespread by Wednesday,” Quinn said.

Neither Cuomo nor Mayor Eric Adams provided statements to ABC News.

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(WASHINGTON) — The roughly $6 billion in education programming that was frozen by the Trump administration earlier this month is being released, according to a Department of Education spokesperson on Friday.

This includes all title program funding for English language acquisition, teacher development and adult education, among other programs, the spokesperson confirmed.

On Thursday, in an interview with ABC News, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon suggested the roughly $6 billion in education programming that was paused and under review by the Office of Management and Budget could be released by the end of the year.

“We want to make sure that we have the right focus on what we’re trying to do with our students,” McMahon said.

The congressionally authorized education funding was under review to determine if programs “grossly misused” government funds to promote a “radical leftwing agenda.”

Last week, several Republican senators sent a letter to OMB Director Russ Vought urging the Trump administration to reverse its decision to withhold the more than $6 billion in federal funds for education programs already appropriated by Congress. Additionally, a coalition of school districts and advocacy groups sued the Trump’s administration over the funding freeze.

Friday’s announcement comes a week after OMB unfroze more than $1 billion in after-school and summer learning funds that had been under review. A senior administration official said the states would have to adhere to new guardrails moving forward. Many programs told ABC News they received the after-school and summer learning funding earlier this week.

It’s unclear how soon states will receive the additional education funding that was released today, but the school year starts in the coming days for many districts nationwide.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s attempt to ensure his pick remains in charge of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey has taken a new twist.

On Thursday, one day before Alina Habba’s tenure as the Interim United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey was set to expire, the White House withdrew her nomination for the post.

Habba then announced on social media that she is now the Acting United States Attorney, seemingly restarting the clock on what is usually a 120-day temporary term. Trump first appointed Habba as the state’s interim U.S. attorney in March.

“I don’t cower to pressure. I don’t answer to politics. This is a fight for justice. And I’m all in,” Habba wrote on social media.

The unorthodox legal maneuver appears to end a stalemate that began when federal judges in New Jersey selected Desiree Leigh Grace, an experienced federal prosecutor, over Habba, the president’s former personal attorney and choice to lead the office. The Department of Justice quickly stated that it fired Grace, leaving unclear who would take over the office.

In a social media post, Grace stated that she would still be willing to lead the office “in accordance with the law.”

“The District Judges for the District of New Jersey selected me to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. It will forever be the greatest honor that they selected me on merit, and I’m prepared to follow that Order and begin to serve in accordance with the law,” she wrote.

The Trump administration’s move to pull Habba’s nomination and then install her in an acting capacity appears to take advantage of a section of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which allows an acting officer to serve in a position for no more than 210 days if no one is nominated to the position.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is making his fourth international trip of his second term this week, traveling to Scotland, where his mother was born, and where he plans to spend several days at his family’s golf courses — including one he’s said should host the British Open.

The Trump Organization currently has two golf resorts in Turnberry and Aberdeenshire, and is expected to cut the ribbon on another course opening at the latter in the coming weeks.

Trump visited his golf resort in Turnberry as president once before, for a weekend on the way to a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland in 2018.

In 2020, ABC News confirmed that Woody Johnson, then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, told colleagues he was asked by Trump if he could persuade the British government to hold the British Open golf tournament at Turnberry. The British government later said Johnson never made a request to Scottish officials, and Trump denied asking Johnson to do so.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, which organizes the Open, the world’s oldest golf tournament, said in a statement shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that it had “no plans” to stage the Open at Turnberry and “will not do so in the foreseeable future.”

“We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances,” the chief executive of The R&A wrote in the statement at the time.

In 2023, in an interview at Turnberry, Trump told British conservative politician and media personality Nigel Farage that “everyone” wants Turnberry to host the Open.

“Everyone wants to see the Open Championship here. The players, it’s their favorite course, number one rated in Europe. In some lists, it’s the number one rated anywhere in the world, and they want to have the Open championship back here,” he said.

“I think they think I’m a little bit of a controversial figure,” he said at another point in the interview.

Recently, Mark Darbon, the new chair of the R&A, said there are “logistical challenges” to hosting the tournament at the club, which hosted the Open several times before Trump bought the property in 2014.

Darbon also revealed his organization recently met with Eric Trump and other Trump Golf leaders a few months ago to discuss the possibility.

ABC News has reached out to the Trump Organization for a statement.

In May, Trump traveled to the Middle East for his first official overseas visit of his second term, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to deepen economic and political ties with the Gulf kingdoms.

The president’s family has also expanded its business interests in the Middle East. The Trump Organization partnered with developers on new projects in Saudi Arabia, Doha and the United Arab Emirates, and is involved in a cryptocurrency venture connected to a fund with ties to the Emirati government.

In his most recent financial disclosure, Trump reported hundreds of millions in income from his various properties, including golf clubs and his Mar-a-Lago estate and club. He has also earned millions from other business ventures, including trademarking merchandise like watches and fragrances.

His Aberdeenshire resort lost 1.4 million pounds last year, according to the BBC, citing financial disclosures.

Ethics experts have criticized some of Trump’s travels and raised concerns that the president has exposed himself to potential conflicts of interest between his official activities and his family’s business interests.

“At this point, he’s essentially using the White House as an extension of the Trump Organization and letting the taxpayers pick up the bill,” Jordan Libowitz, the Vice President for Communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told ABC News.

The administration has called Trump’s visit a “working trip,” and Trump is expected to have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Starmer and will likely hold a press conference while overseas.

“President Trump’s working trip to Scotland will include a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Starmer to refine the historic US-UK trade deal. Donald J. Trump has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement to ABC News.

Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children and administration officials have long denied any conflict of interest.

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