Trump news latest updates: President to sign executive order to rebrand Pentagon as Department of War

President Donald Trump has posted a lengthy rant aimed at Democrats, accusing them of doing nothing about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive, and only now suddenly being concerned for his victims.

He claims Democrats befriended Epstein, socialized with him, traveled to his island, and took his money.

Trump and Epstein were close friends throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s before they fell out in 2004. The financier had a wide circle of contacts and friendships with many influential people.

The child sex offender was first investigated for his crimes in 2005, and convicted in 2008 as part of a controversial plea deal with then-U.S. Attorney for South Florida, Alex Acosta — now Trump’s Secretary of Labor.

Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and died in his jail cell in New York while awaiting trial.

Here’s the president’s post in full:

The confused and badly failing Democrat Party did nothing about Jeffrey Epstein while he was alive except befriend him, socialize with him, travel to his Island, and take his money! They knew everything there was to know about Epstein, but now, years after his death, they, out of nowhere, are seeming to show such love and heartfelt concern for his victims. Does anybody really believe that? Where were they during his very public trials, and for all of those years before his death? The answer is, “nowhere to be found.” The now dying (after the DOJ gave thousands of pages of documents in full compliance with a very comprehensive and exacting Subpoena from Congress!) Epstein case was only brought back to life by the Radical Left Democrats because they are doing so poorly, with the lowest poll numbers in the history of the Party (16%), while the Republicans are doing so well, among the highest approval numbers the Party has ever had! The Dems don’t care about the victims, as proven by the fact that they never did before. This is merely another Democrat HOAX, just like Russia, Russia, Russia, and all of the others, in order to deflect and distract from the great success of a Republican President, and the record setting failure of the previous Administration, and the Democrat Party. The Department of Justice has done its job, they have given everything requested of them. It’s time to end the Democrat Epstein Hoax, and give the Republicans credit for the great, even legendary, job that they are doing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

Here’s Eric Garcia with the latest on the Epstein case after this week’s rally by survivors and lawmakers:

President Donald Trump is reportedly set to issue an executive order as early as today, establishing a new designation for “state sponsors of wrongful detention.”

This move, reported by CBS News, would grant the United States the authority to penalise countries found to be illegally detaining or taking U.S. nationals hostage.

Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent in pre-market trading on Friday, with Nasdaq futures gaining 0.6 per cent, propelled by another strong earnings report from chipmaker Broadcom. However, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a slight decline.

In the bond market, Treasury yields fell after the government announced U..S employers added just 22,000 jobs last month. This indicated a continued cooling of the labor market amidst uncertainty over economic policies, particularly tariffs.

The slowdown in the job market could bolster the case for the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate, a possibility already signalled by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. A rate cut, potentially announced at the 16-17 September meeting, could reduce other borrowing costs across the economy, including mortgages, car loans, and business loans.

The U.S added just 22,000 jobs in August, worse than economists predicted, as the job market continues to cool amid Trump’s trade war, according to the latest employment figures from the agency.

Unemployment increased to 4.3 percent, the highest since 2021, according to Bloomberg.

Rhian Lubin reports from New York.

Not only did the jobs numbers for August come in below expectations, but the latest jobs report also revised job growth in June and July.

There were 27,000 fewer jobs created in June, resulting in a net loss of 13,000 for the month.

For July, the numbers were up by 6,000, meaning a net gain of 79,000 jobs for the month.

The agency’s name was changed to the Department of Defense following the end of the Second World War.

Here’s Graig Graziosi in Washington, D.C. with the details:

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the Trump administration, from the White House and beyond.

President Donald Trump’s schedule today is as follows:

10:30 a.m. — The president receives his intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.

12:00 p.m. — The president participates in an Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony in the Oval Office.

2:00 p.m. — The president signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office.

4:00 p.m. The president makes an announcement from the Oval Office.

7:00 p.m. — The president hosts a dinner in the Rose Garden.