Top Stories — Tuesday, September 9, 2025
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- Trump Epstein letter and drawing from 'birthday book' released — CNBC
- Ryan Routh trial opens with bizarre jury questions and witness drama — Fox News
- Trump Issues Warning to Hamas as Israeli Military Moves on Gaza City — nyt News
Trump Epstein letter and drawing from 'birthday book' released
Source: CNBC • Published: 9/9/2025, 2:05:11 AM
House Democrats on Monday released a screenshot of what appears to be a letter signed by President Donald Trump, which was included in a collection of notes sent to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.
The letter features a cryptic conversation between Trump and Epstein inside an apparently hand-drawn outline of a woman's torso.
Trump's signature is located just below the hips of the drawing.
The letter is publicly visible for the first time since its existence was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in mid July. Trump has not only denied writing the letter, but sued the newspaper for defamation.
"HERE IT IS: We got Trump's birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that the President said doesn't exist," the X account for the House Oversight Committee's Democratic minority wrote in a post revealing the letter.
CNBC has requested comment from a spokesman for Trump's legal team.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that the publication of the drawing "PROVES this entire 'Birthday Card' story is false."
"As I have said all along, it's very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it," Leavitt said in an X post.
"President Trump's legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation," she added.
Taylor Budowich, the deputy White House chief of staff, claimed on X that the signature on the letter to Epstein is not Trump's. Budowich shared a series of pictures of documents Trump has recently signed in order to suggest that the 2003 signature was not a match.
But a review of Trump's signature over time reveals that it has evolved significantly. A New York Times report from 2016 about Trump's letters included several with signatures that much more closely resemble the one in the Epstein letter.
Both Democrats and Republicans on the Oversight panel are investigating records related to Epstein, the wealthy and well-connected financier who killed himself in prison in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.
Epstein's estate provided the entire "birthday book" and other documents in response to a subpoena from the committee.
Epstein was formerly Trump's friend, but had a falling out with him in the mid-2000s. Since Trump took office in January, Epstein has become a massive liability for the White House, and its response has drawn harsh criticism from both the far right and the left.
Trump, who stoked an array of conspiracy theories on the campaign trail, signaled that he would be open to releasing all the undisclosed criminal records in Epstein's case, known as "the Epstein files." But after one paltry disclosure, his Department of Justice said in a July memo that nothing further was warranted, prompting outrage from some of his own supporters.
The screenshot released Monday afternoon shows the letter exactly as it was described by The Wall Street Journal, which first uncovered the existence of the "bawdy" message on July 17.
Trump furiously denied writing that letter at the time, claiming, "These are not my words, not the way I talk."
He promptly filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the newspaper and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
After the letter was released Monday afternoon, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top-ranking Democrat on the Oversight panel, said the document shows Trump is "involved in a cover up" on Epstein.
Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to procure young women for him to abuse, helped compile the book of birthday wishes.
Maxwell, in an interview in July with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, said she could not recall the names of anyone who contributed to the birthday book.
"It's been so long," said the British ex-socialite, who has asked the Supreme Court to take her appeal of her conviction.
— CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
Ryan Routh trial opens with bizarre jury questions and witness drama
Source: Fox News • Published: 9/9/2025, 1:49:58 AM
The first day of jury selection kicked off Monday in Fort Pierce, Fla., for the high-profile federal trial of Ryan Routh, who allegedly sought to assassinate President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club in September 2024.
Routh, who is representing himself, appeared at the federal courthouse on Monday morning wearing a gray suit and ankle shackles as the voir dire process began, with prosecutors and Routh questioning jurors to determine whether they can fairly participate in the trial.
The jury selection process will identify 12 jurors and four alternates for the trial.
Ryan Wesley Routh takes part in a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
During jury selection, Routh asked potential jurors their views on the war in Gaza, their position on the U.S. potentially acquiring Greenland as the president has floated, and how they would act if they were driving and spotted a turtle in the middle of the road.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed Routh's questions as "politically charged," and said that they were unnecessary for jury selection.
"None of the questions on your list have any bearing whatsoever. They were off base, sir, and have no relevance to jury selection," Cannon said. When Routh attempted to speak in protest, Cannon warned him not to interrupt.
Routh also said a former co-worker listed on his witness list, Eric Zuniga, would not testify on Routh's behalf because Zuniga lives in Costa Rica and "likes his freedom and doesn't want to get arrested or deported." Routh then withdrew Zuniga's name as a potential witness.
Trump assassination suspect Ryan Routh was arrested for the alleged attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number in Palm Beach County, Fla. on Sept. 15, 2024. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)
Routh also said another potential witness he'd listed would also unlikely to appear, due to scheduled travel to Vietnam during the trial.
After the morning session wrapped up, Cannon asked if there was anything else, prompting Routh to say that he is "still in a situation at the jail where I can't sleep."
"I don't know if they could move me to general population or something," Routh said.
But Cannon once again shut Routh down, and said that the statement wasn't appropriate at that time.
Twenty-seven out of the 60 prospective jurors claimed that they had a hardship that would prevent them from participating on the jury for Routh's case. Meanwhile, Routh claimed he had reservations about many potential jurors, but couldn't identify specific concerns.
Prosecutors claim that Routh sought to kill Trump for weeks, and staked out a spot in shrubbery on Sept. 15, 2024, when a Secret Service agent detected him pointing a rifle at Trump while the then-presidential candidate played golf at his West Palm Beach country club. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, but abandoned his weapon and the scene after the Secret Service agents opened fire.
A general view of the fenced area near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, Sept. 18. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital/Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)
Routh faces federal charges, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, as well as assaulting a federal officer and various gun violations. The charges carry a potential life sentence if the jury finds him guilty. Meanwhile, Routh has maintained he's innocent and pleaded not guilty to all federal charges, in addition to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.
Opening statements for the trial are expected to kick off on Thursday, and prosecutors are poised to launch into their case immediately afterward. The court has allocated four weeks for Routh's trial, although it is expected to wrap up sooner.
Fox News' Jamie Joseph, Heather Lacey, Jake Gibson, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.
Read the full story at Fox News.
Trump Issues Warning to Hamas as Israeli Military Moves on Gaza City
Source: nyt News • Published: 9/9/2025, 1:42:00 AM
President Trump's latest foray into Middle East peacemaking presented Hamas with what sounded like an ultimatum. He effectively pressed the Palestinian militant group to either accept a new American cease-fire proposal or face the full wrath of Israel's military advance into Gaza City.
"The Israelis have accepted my Terms," Mr. Trump posted on social media on Sunday, hinting at a new American proposal to exchange all the remaining hostages for Palestinian prisoners and end the nearly two-year-old Gaza war. "It is time for Hamas to accept as well."
"I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting," Mr. Trump said. "This is my last warning, there will not be another one!"
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump's brinkmanship could stop the invasion of Gaza City, one of the main urban centers of the Palestinian territory. Alternatively, if Hamas balks, it could allow Israel and the United States to argue that they tried everything and that the group was bringing disaster upon itself.
The intervention added to the uncertainties surrounding Israel's impending ground assault on the heart of Gaza City in the north of the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents, many of them already displaced at least once by the war, are now torn between fleeing to the overcrowded south or taking the risk of staying put.
The American proposal consists of about half a dozen broad principles for a truce, according to two people familiar with the discussions. It appears to leave what have been some of the most difficult sticking points to be hammered out in further talks.
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