White House says three ‘forensic analysts of signatures’ clear Trump, but no one can find them
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, was adamant on Tuesday when she said that the scrawled “Donald” on a bawdy 2003 birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein was not the Donald Trump’s signature.
The signature on a birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein attributed to Donald Trump in a bound album presented to the the late sex offender on his fiftieth birthday in 2003. Illustration: Reuters
As evidence, she said that she had already seen “many forensic analysts of signatures coming out” to agree with her. She then cited one report in particular. “I believe it was the Daily Signal that published a piece with three separate signature analysts who said this absolutely was not the president’s authentic signature.”
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, described what she called scientific evidence that the president did not sign a birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
“We have maintained that position all along”, Leavitt added. “The president did not write this letter. He did not sign this letter”.
Leavitt’s comment set off a scramble among journalists to find the article she cited as proof. But no such article appears on the website of the publication she referenced, the Daily Signal, a partisan, rightwing outlet that was established by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative thinktank that drew up plans for Trump’s second administration in a report titled Project 2025.
Although Leavitt has not replied to a request from the Guardian to clarify what she meant, it seems likely that she was referring to an analysis of the birthday note published on Tuesday by another conservative website with a similar name: the Daily Wire.
Unfortunately for Leavitt, the Daily Wire report headlined, “WSJ Epstein Letter ‘Polar Opposite’ Of Trump’s Writing Style: 3 Forensic Analyses Reach Same Verdict”, is not about Trump’s signature, and cites no forensic analysts at all. Instead, the outlet reports that it ran the text of the birthday note through three AI three models and the “forensic linguistic analysis” produced by all three concluded that the language used in the imagined conversation between Trump and Epstein did not match Trump’s writing style.
While the literary device and the formal language used in the note’s dialogue does not sound at all like the way that Trump speaks in public, what exactly Trump’s writing style might be is difficult to pin down, given that he has worked with ghostwriters throughout his career on his books.
The Guardian recently contacted one of the writers Trump worked with, Dave Shiflett, a journalist who wrote a book credited to Trump in 2000, three years before the birthday note to Epstein was produced, to ask if it might have been commissioned by Trump, but composed by someone else.
“My understanding is that Trump neither writes nor reads his books,” Shiflett wrote back. “Several years back a Washington Post reporter told me he had asked Trump about his books and he had said he never read them.”
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Updated at 18.48 EDT
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Trump says Israeli bombing of Hamas negotiators in Qatar ‘does not advance Israel or America’s goals’
Writing on his social network, Donald Trump distanced himself from Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday, noting that “it was not a decision made by me” and “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”.
Trump wrote:
This morning, the Trump Administration was notified by the United States Military that Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the Capital of Qatar. This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me. Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals. However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal. I immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack. I view Qatar as a strong Ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack.
The president added that he spoke with the Israeli prime minister after the attack, and that Netanyahu “told me that he wants to make Peace”, and with Qatar’s emir and prime minister “and thanked them for their support and friendship to our Country”.
Trump appeared to be referring to the US military base in Qatar, and to the gift it presented to Trump after his recent visit to the country: a luxury 747 jet he intends to take with him after he leaves office.
“I assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil,” Trump added, which would seem to suggest that he both has the power to stop Israeli strikes, but for some reason did not have the power to stop the one that took place today.
A spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed al-Ansari, denied that the country had any advance warning of the Israeli attack. “The statements being circulated about Qatar being informed of the attack in advance are baseless,” he wrote on X. “The call from a US official came during the sound of explosions caused by the Israeli attack in Doha.”
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Updated at 17.03 EDT
Trump says kidnapped Princeton scholar Elizabeth Tsurkov has been released in Iraq
In a post on his social network, Donald Trump just announced the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli graduate student at Princeton University who was kidnapped in 2023 while doing research in Iraq by Islamist militants.
Trump wrote that Tsurkov, whose sister is a US citizen, was just released by the Shiite Muslim militant group Kataeb Hezbollah “and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq”.
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US supreme court pauses order that Trump must spend foreign aid appropriated by Congress
The US supreme court on Tuesday paused a judge’s order that required the Trump administration to promptly take steps to spend billions in foreign aid that the president has sought to withhold.
The court’s action, known as an administrative stay, gave the justices additional time to consider the administration’s formal request to let it withhold some $4 billion authorized by Congress ahead of a September 30 deadline.
The stay was issued by the chief justice, John Roberts, who handles emergency filings arising in Washington.
The case began with a lawsuit against the US state department on behalf of one of the groups denied funding, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. It is a legal challenge to Trump’s executive order, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid”, which was signed on the first day of his second term in January.
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Gavin Newsom warns of ‘pernicious threats’ to democracy and rule of law in California state of the state letter
California governor Gavin Newsom issued a pointed indictment of the Trump administration in his ‘state of the state’ letter, which he delivered to the California legislature on Tuesday.
Newsom, who has emerged as one of Donald Trump’s fiercest and most vocal critics, warned that California is “menaced by a federal administration that dismantles public services, punishes allies across the globe, and sweeps the rule of law into the gutter.”
In recent months, the California governor has sued the administration for sending National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell anti-Ice protects. A move he describes as an act of resistance against the “dangerous and un-American assault on our values.”
Newsom also launched a redistricting plan to counter the Trump-instigated gerrymander in Texas, and employed a social media strategy that mocks the president’s idiosyncratic and persistent posts on Truth Social.
His letter, which is traditionally delivered in person, is Newsom’s fifth address to the legislature, and also marks the 175th anniversary of California’s statehood. He accompanied his written remarks with a pre-recorded and abridged video version, posted to his website and social media accounts.
In response to Newsom’s letter, James Gallagher, the California Assembly Republican Leader, published a video deriding the governor for choosing not to make his speech in front of lawmakers. “I guess he’s too afraid to come and actually talk about what the state of the state actually is,” he said. “His ambitions are more than his ability to govern the state.”
As the California governor is term-limited and this is be Newsom’s penultimate ‘state of the state’. His increased national profile is widely considered part of his political audition to be the Democratic nominee in the 2028 presidential election.
Throughout his letter, Newsom calls out Trump’s “relentless, unhinged California obsession”, without mentioning the president by name.
“Together with the attorney general, we have filed 41 lawsuits on behalf of the people of California to challenge federal actions that threaten to drive up prices, force layoffs, and inflict economic ruin,” he says.
While Newsom underscores the “pernicious threats to the foundation of our democracy,” he notes that California “will emerge stronger”.
He also uses the letter to tout many of the Golden State’s recent achievements. From investments in affordable student housing, to California’s outsized role in delivering nationwide technology and science contributions, to the development of sustainable infrastructure. Despite, what Newsom calls, the administration’s “work to dismantle our clean air and water standards” – referring to Trump’s attempts to hinder California from phasing out gas-powered cars in the next decade.
“We are now nine months into a battle to protect the values we hold most dear and to preserve the economic and social foundation we built for California,” Newsom concludes. “This is not the first time this state has endured darkness. Each time, we have created our own light and forged our own path toward a better place.”
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White House asks Congress to extend funding to avoid federal shutdown until January
The White House has asked congress to pass legislation that would extend current federal funding until 31 January, avoiding a partial government shutdown that would otherwise begin on 1 October.
“Today’s request from President Trump and Russ Vought to kick the can down the road on government funding until 31 January makes it clear the White House wants to be able to continue stealing from American communities for another four months,” said Democratic congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, who also serves as the ranking member of the House Appropriations committee.
Republican Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, said the White House’s request was a “suggestion” when speaking to reporters on Capitol hill on Tuesday. “We’re still working on the dates and how long it would extend, but that hasn’t been finalized yet.”
To keep the government funded beyond September, congress would need to pass what’s known as a “continuing resolution” – which would require at least seven Democratic senators to join the chamber’s Republican majority and advance the legislation.
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Updated at 15.48 EDT
Chris Stein
At the Capitol, top Republicans have joined the White House in alleging that it is not actually Donald Trump’s signature on a suggestive poem and drawing addressed to Jeffrey Epstein that was made public on Monday.
“The White House says it’s not true,” House speaker Mike Johnson told PBS News, adding that he has not seen the artwork from Epstein’s birthday book, which was released by Democrats on the House oversight committee.
The committee’s Republican chair James Comer has been leading an investigation into Epstein and the government’s handling of allegations of sex trafficking against him. Epstein died while awaiting trial on those charges in 2019, in what the justice department said was a suicide.
However, Comer says that he does not plan to investigate the veracity of Trump’s signature on the document.
“Twenty-two years ago was when that was allegedly sent. So, I don’t think the oversight committee is going to invest in looking up something that was 22 years ago,” he told CNN.
Republican congressman and oversight committee member Tim Burchett also doubted that Trump had made the drawing and signed it – even though Trump has a history of making sketches.
“I’ve never known Trump to be much of an artist,” he told CNN, adding that it was “so easy” to forge a signature.
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Updated at 15.44 EDT
White House defends supreme court decision to allow immigration raids to continue
Leavitt said in today’s press briefing that the ruling from the supreme court, which would allow immigration raids in Los Angeles to continue, is not indiscriminate profiling – which several critics have expressed.
“Reasonable suspicion is not just based on race, it’s based on a totality of the circumstances to review,” Leavitt said. “When Ice goes out to conduct a targeted operation to deport illegal criminals from our community, they are doing so with intelligence. They are doing so with law enforcement sources. They are doing so in most cases, with the backing of local law enforcement.”
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White House offers muddled justification for ‘hoax’ claims following release of Epstein ‘birthday book’ documents
The press secretary has just offered a muddled message about what the White House considers to be a “hoax” when it comes to the Epstein investigation.
Leavitt initially said that the administration doesn’t believe the documents are a hoax, but rather the “the entire narrative surrounding Jeffrey Epstein right now, that is absorbing many of the liberal cable channels on television, is a hoax that is being perpetuated by opportunistic Democrats.”
But when pushed about the White House claims that Trump didn’t sign either the birthday note or novelty check – all documents provided by the Epstein estate – Leavitt seemed to suggest these were forged.
“The president has one of the most famous signatures in the world, and he has for many, many years,” she said. “He did not sign those documents. He maintains that position, and that position will be argued in court by his lawyers. The President is very confident he’s going to win this case.”
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Updated at 14.22 EDT
Karoline Leavitt just said the president didn’t sign a check that is pictured in Epstein’s “birthday book”.
The picture shows Epstein posting with a $22,000 novelty check – apparently signed by Donald Trump – “for a fully depreciated woman”.
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Updated at 14.17 EDT
Karoline Leavitt, notably, did not confirm that Israel informed the US about the strike in Doha. “What I can tell you is the United States military informed the Trump administration,” she said.
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White House says Democrats are ‘concocting hoax’ with Epstein investigation
More than 20 minutes into the briefing, Karoline Leavitt is addressing some of the first questions related to the Epstein investigation.
Leavitt says that Democrats “could have cared about those victims four years ago when Joe Biden was in office, they could have pushed for transparency” but they are using victims of Epstein’s abuse as “political pawns to try to smear and to push a hoax” against the president.
Leavitt adds that she has seen “forensic analysts” argue that the signature on the note to Epstein was not his. “The president did not write this letter. He did not sign this letter,” she said.
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Updated at 14.03 EDT
Leavitt says that White House feels ‘very badly’ about location of Israeli strike in Qatar
Leavitt reads a statement from the White House, which says that the administration “feels very badly about the location” of today’s attack by Isreal in Doha, targeting Hamas leaders.
She added:
President Trump believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace. The President also spoke to the Emir and prime minister of Qatar and thanked them for their support and friendship to our country. He assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil.
A reminder, that my colleague, Lucy Campbell, is covering the latest developments in the Middle East. You can follow along below.
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Updated at 15.17 EDT
White House doesn’t address Trump’s alleged note in Epstein ‘birthday book’ as briefing begins
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, didn’t mention or address the president’s alleged contribution to Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday scrapbook in her opening monologue in today’s briefing.
Instead, she began her briefing calling out the press for failing to cover the murder of Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 23-year-old, who fled the war in Ukraine, was stabbed by a man with a long criminal record, and a history of mental illness.
Leavitt used her opening remarks to advocate the administration’s stance for harsher sentences.
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