Family of JFK Call BS on Trump Shuttering of Kennedy Center

Kennedy’s niece, Maria Shriver said, “since the name-change” to honor Trump “no one wants to perform there any longer.”


Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, who is currently running for Congress, speaks to members of the New York State Nurses Association before joining the picket line in support of nurses on strike outside Mount Sinai West on January 12, 2026, in New York City.
(Photo by Edna Leshowitz/Getty Images)

Stephen Prager
Feb 02, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

The descendants of former President John F. Kennedy are denouncing President Donald Trump’s order to shutter the Kennedy Center and calling bullshit on his reasons for doing so.

On Sunday, Trump abruptly announced on Truth Social that beginning on July 4, the performing arts center in Washington, DC, which he recently renamed after himself, would shut down for two years for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.”

Trump said the decision was based on input from a group of “many Highly Respected experts,” who said the center was “tired, broken, and dilapidated” and needed to be shut down for a facelift.



However, the family of the center’s namesake said it has more to do with the recent pullout of talent in protest after it became the “Trump-Kennedy Center” last year and the president began asserting control over its programming, which included the world premiere of a hagiographic documentary about his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, this weekend.

In a post on social media, JFK’s niece, Maria Shriver, gave what she said was a “translation” of Trump’s comments about the center’s sudden closure.

She suggested the president meant to say: “It has been brought to my attention that due to the name change (but nobody’s telling me it’s due to the name change), but it’s been brought to my attention that entertainers are canceling left and right, and I have determined that since the name change no one wants to perform there any longer.”

Speaking as Trump, she continued: “I’ve determined that due to this change in schedule, it’s best for me to close this center down and rebuild a new center that will bear my name, which will surely get everybody to stop talking about the fact that everybody’s canceling... right?”

Among those who have pulled out of planned performances at the center are the Washington National Opera, Lincoln composer Philip Glass, the Broadway show Hamilton, the actress and producer Issa Rae, and several others—many of whom directly cited Trump’s takeover as their reason.

Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, who is running for Congress as a Democrat in New York, was even more direct in his condemnation.

“Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the building. He can try to kill JFK,” he wrote. “But JFK is kept alive by us now rising up to remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice, and restore the freedoms generations fought for.”

Trump faces intense ridicule after new Kennedy Center announcement

U.S. President Donald Trump on board Air Force One, January 31, 2026

. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Alex Henderson

February 02, 2026

 ALTERNET

On Sunday, February 1, President Donald Trump announced that the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. will be closing for two years for renovations. The Kennedy Center, Trump said, will close on July 4 — the 250th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence — and reopen, post-renovations, in 2028.

Trump's announcement is receiving a lot of reactions on X, formerly Twitter.

CNN's Jake Tapper noted, "Oct 1, WaPo: sales for orchestra/theater/dance performances worst since pandemic Jan 2, PBS: Kennedy Center faces artist cancellations, drop in sales after Trump's name added Feb 1, Trump closes K. Center for 2 yrs 'for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.'"

Journalist Karly Kingsley tweeted, "Trump says he's closing the Kennedy Center for two years for 'construction, revitalization, and complete rebuilding.' That's code for no one will perform there since he took over and he doesn’t want another public reminder that artists and audiences overwhelmingly despise him."

Democratic activist Melanie D'Arrigo wrote, "At least 18 artists have canceled shows at the Kennedy Center during Trump’s 2nd term. Closing it down is less embarrassing for him than artists continuing to cancel because of him."

Russell Drew tweeted, "Of course Donald Trump is now closing down the Kennedy Center. With ticket sales plummeting and top artists staying far away ever since he branded his name on the building, he's getting his revenge. He's been like this his whole life."

A parody account inspired by Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who is relentless in trolling Trump — posted, in all caps, "DONALD IS CLOSING THE KENNEDY CENTER. (AFTER DESTROYING IT.) BUT DON'T BE SAD! I'M OPENING A NEW ARTS CENTER CALLED, 'NOT A TRUMP CENTER.'EVERY ARTIST IS CALLING ME! FIRST SHOW IS TAYLOR, BRUCE & BAD BUNNY. KID ROCK & NICKI ARE PERFORMING THE FOLLOWING NIGHT (AT ARBY'S.)."

Kennedy Center's image had 'fallen apart' due to Trump's meddling: analysis

Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, attends a New Year's Eve event at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 31, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello

Thomas Kika 

February 02, 2026 

ALTERNET

Donald Trump made the surprise announcement over the weekend that the Kennedy Center would be closing down for a years-long renovation project, with an analysis from The New Republic stating that this move came after the center's prestigious image had "fallen apart" due to his meddling.

The president announced in a Truth Social post Sunday evening that the center, which he had recently attempted to add his own name to, would be shutting down for a two-year period starting on July 4, "in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country," in order to conduct a two-year renovation he deemed necessary after a "year review."

“Financing is completed, and fully in place!” Trump's post read. “This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before.”

Despite his stated reasoning for the closure, the move was widely interpreted as a retreat by Trump after his meddling and attempts to insert himself into the Kennedy Center's image caused artists to cancel the performances there en masse. In addition to forcing his own name onto the center, which cannot be legally done without congressional approval, Trump also filled the center's board with loyalists and claimed that he would reshape its entertainment offerings to fit his own political agenda.

In its own analysis of the situation from Monday, The New Republic pinned the blame on the closure and the Kennedy Center's tarnished reputation squarely on the president.

"Long before Trump’s meddling, the Kennedy Center was widely considered a premier, world-class arts institution," the outlet explained. "But since the White House became directly involved in its operations and programming, its normally star-studded lineup has fallen apart."

The New Republic also cited responses to the move from the family of former President John F. Kennedy, whom the center was originally named for.

“I’ve determined that due to this change in schedule, it’s best for me to close this center down and rebuild a new center that will bear my name, which will surely get everybody to stop talking about the fact that everybody’s canceling… right?” Maria Shriver, Kennedy's niece, wrote in a post X.

Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy's grandson who is currently running for Congress in New York, also weighed in.

“Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the building. He can try to kill JFK,” Schlossberg wrote in his own post to X. “But JFK is kept alive by us now rising up to remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice, and restore the freedoms generations fought for.”

Mockery abounds after Trump's latest Kennedy Center proclamation: 'He’s East-Winging it'

Robert Davis
February 1, 2026 
RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump gestures while he poses for a picture at the presidential box at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Mockery abounded on Sunday night after President Donald Trump announced that the embattled Kennedy Center would close for two years as a wave of performers cancelled their dates.

Trump has been trying for several months to rebrand the Kennedy Center as the "Trump-Kennedy Center," even though the building was named by federal law. His efforts to add his name to the center, which was built in honor of the late President John F. Kennedy, sparked outrage among artists and performers.

In a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said his decision to close the Kennedy Center came after consulting with experts and is "totally subject to Board approval."

"I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year (sic) period of time, with a scheduled Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a Facility before," Trump proclaimed.

Political analysts and observers reacted on social media.

"So he’s announcing the demolition of the Kennedy Center, correct? He’s East-Winging it," lawyer Will Stancil posted on Bluesky.

"Just like his casinos and other businesses, the Kennedy Center went out of business after he put his name on it," Brett Meiselas, co-founder of MeidasTouch, posted on X.

"We had to destroy the Kennedy Center in order to save it," historian Kevin Kruse posted on Bluesky.

"Trump officially killed the Kennedy Center," lawyer Bradley Moss posted on Bluesky.


"He’s not mad about cancellations, just following advice from unnamed Highly Respected Experts," Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedman posted on X.

"Trump ruined the Kennedy Center so quickly and completely that he's going to close and 'renovate' it for most of the rest of his second term," journalist Mike Rothschild posted on X.

Trump announces two-year closure of embattled Kennedy Center

Robert Davis
February 1, 2026 
RAW STORY

President Donald Trump poses on the red carpet for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the embattled Kennedy Center will close for two-years as it undergoes renovations.

"After a one year review of The Trump Kennedy Center, that has taken place with Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants, deciding between either Construction with Closure and Re-Opening or, Partial Construction while continuing Entertainment Operations through a much longer period of time, working in and around the Performances, I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World," Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday.

The president made the announcement at a time when the Kennedy Center's bookings had dried up in protest of the Trump administration. Artists ranging from Béla Fleck to Issa Rae and The Cookers have all cancelled their Kennedy Center dates.

The Kennedy Center is scheduled to close on July 4, according to Trump's post.

Opinion: President of bad taste — The Arc de Sleaze in Washington will probably be golden


By Paul Wallis

EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL
January 31, 2026

If Donald Trump is remembered for anything, it’ll be his obsession with landmarks commemorating himself. The useless White House ballroom, and the inexcusable demolition of the rose garden, the renaming of the Kennedy Center, and the golden tat adorning the White House apparently aren’t enough.

The arch will supposedly be 250 feet tall. Modelled roughly on the Arc de Triomphe, this thing will be timed to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary. It will be funded by “leftover donations” to the much-reviled ballroom.

You’ve probably heard of brutalist architecture. It’s useless and ornamental. It reflects the bad taste of its proponents.

This is brattish architecture. Many despots, notably Louis the 14th, the mass-murdering king who bankrupted France with his many wars, liked monumental architecture rather than competent architecture. The Palace of Versailles was built with no regard for sanitation, for example.

In the case of the US, however, there’s something grotesque about even the theory of a triumphal arch. What could possibly be less appropriate?

The United States is no longer anything like the beacon of hope it was from inception. The lack of originality and any specifically American characteristics of the proposed arch are absurd but typical of this administration.

What triumph is this useless arch commemorating? The worst living conditions since the Great Depression? An America at war with itself? An America that refuses to modernize or recognize the rights of its own citizens? Rampant criminality and corruption? The last mad bleat of an ex-superpower? The triumph of disgusting parasites pumping the life and identity out of America?

The best name for this new absurdity would be the Arc de Sleaze.

It’ll be a last-minute token of pseudo-patriotism, like the rest of Trump’s horrible facades. Stick a red cap made in China on it, and you’ve got your American icon.

Suggestion – Tear this insult down ASAP.

_________________________________________________________

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

ICYMI

‘Scowling Void of Pure Nothingness’: Critics Destroy $75 Million Melania Trump Documentary

“It’s one of those rare, unicorn films that doesn’t have a single redeeming quality,” said one critic. “and utterly pointless.”

Melania Trump at Amazon MGM Studios’ film, “MELANIA” World Premiere held at the Kennedy Center on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Craig Hudson/Variety via Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Jan 31, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

Critics have weighed in on Amazon MGM Studios’ documentary about first lady Melania Trump, and their verdicts are overwhelmingly negative.

According to review aggregation website Metacritic, Melania—which Amazon paid $40 million to acquire and $35 million to market—so far has received a collective score of just 6 out of 100 from critics, which indicates “overwhelming dislike.”

Similarly, Melania scores a mere 6% on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Tomameter,” indicating that 94% of reviews for the movie so far have been negative.

One particularly brutal review came from Nick Hilton, film critic for the Independent, who said that the first lady came off in the film as “a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness” who leads a “vulgar, gilded lifestyle.”

Hilton added that the film is so terrible that it fails even at being effective propaganda and is likely to be remembered as “a striking artifact... of a time when Americans willingly subordinated themselves to a political and economic oligopoly.”

The Guardian’s Xan Brooks delivered a similarly scathing assessment, declaring the film “dispiriting, deadly and unrevealing.”

“It’s one of those rare, unicorn films that doesn’t have a single redeeming quality,” Brooks elaborated. “I’m not even sure it qualifies as a documentary, exactly, so much as an elaborate piece of designer taxidermy, horribly overpriced and ice-cold to the touch and proffered like a medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.”

Donald Clarke of the Irish Times also discussed the film’s failure as a piece of propaganda, and he compared it unfavorably to the work of Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.

“Melania... appears keener on inducing narcolepsy in its viewers than energizing them into massed marching,” he wrote. “Triumph of the Dull, perhaps.”

Variety’s Owen Gleiberman argued that the Melania documentary is utterly devoid of anything approaching dramatic stakes, which results in the film suffering from “staggering inertia.”

“Mostly it’s inert,” Gleiberman wrote of the film. “It feels like it’s been stitched together out of the most innocuous outtakes from a reality show. There’s no drama to it. It should have been called ‘Day of the Living Tradwife.’”

Frank Scheck of the Hollywood Reporter found that the movie mostly exposes Melania Trump is an empty vessel without a single original thought or insight, instead deploying “an endless number of inspirational phrases seemingly cribbed from self-help books.”

Kevin Fallon of the Daily Beast described Melania as “an unbelievable abomination of filmmaking” that reaches “a level of insipid propaganda that almost resists review.”

“It’s so expected,” Fallon added, “and utterly pointless.”

THE GRIFT

‘Corruption on a Breathtaking Level’: Report Details Massive Foreign Investment in Trump Crypto Firm

“This was a bribe,” said one critic.

President Donald Trump and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister, shake hands on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
(Photo by Suzanne Plunkett, Pool / Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Feb 01, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

A bombshell Saturday report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family secretly backed a massive $500 million investment into the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture months before the Trump administration gave the United Arab Emirates access to highly sensitive artificial intelligence chip technology.

According to the Journal’s sources, lieutenants of Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed a deal in early 2025 to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, the startup founded by members of the Trump family and the family of Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.



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Documents reviewed by the Journal showed that the buyers in the deal agreed to “pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities,” while “at least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with” the Witkoff family.

Weeks after green lighting the investment into the Trump crypto venture, Tahnoon met directly with President Donald Trump and Witkoff in the White House, where he reportedly expressed interest in working with the US on AI-related technology.

Two months after this, the Journal noted, “the administration committed to give the tiny Gulf monarchy access to around 500,000 of the most advanced AI chips a year—enough to build one of the world’s biggest AI data center clusters.”

Tahnoon in the past had tried to get US officials to give the UAE access to the chips, but was rebuffed on concerns that the cutting-edge technology could be passed along to top US geopolitical rival China, wrote the Journal.

Many observers expressed shock at the Journal’s report, with some critics saying that it showed Trump and his associates were engaging in a criminal bribery scheme.

“This was a bribe,” wrote Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, in a social media post. “UAE royals gave the Trump family $500 million, and Trump, in his presidential capacity, gave them access to tightly guarded American AI chips. The most powerful person on the planet, also happens to be the most shamelessly corrupt.”

Jesse Eisinger, reporter and editor at ProPublica, argued that the Abu Dhabi investment into the Trump cypto firm “should rank among the greatest US scandals ever.”

Democratic strategist David Axelrod also said that the scope of the Trump crypto investment scandal was historic in nature.

“In any other time or presidency, this story... would be an earthquake of a scandal,” he wrote. “The size, scope and implications of it are unprecedented and mind-boggling.”

Tommy Vietor, co-host of “Pod Save America,” struggled to wrap his head around the scale of corruption on display.

“How do you add up the cost of corruption this massive?” he wondered. “It’s not just that Trump is selling advanced AI tech to the highest bidder, national security be damned. Its that he’s tapped that doofus Steve Witkoff as an international emissary so his son Zach Witkoff can mop up bribes.”

Former Rep. Tom Malinkowski (D-NJ) warned the Trump and his associates that they could wind up paying a severe price for their deal with the UAE.

“If a future administration finds that such payments to the Trump family were acts of corruption,” he wrote, “these people could be sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act, and the assets in the US could potentially be frozen.”

Questions raised over 'unimaginable' Trump corruption scandal: 'Leaks coming from inside?'

David McAfee
February 1, 2026 

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a swearing-in ceremony for Alina Habba as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

A new report about a "secret" and "unprecedented" deal between Donald Trump and a "spy Sheikh" has analysts concerned.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, according to company documents and people familiar with the matter."

The article continues:

The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities. The deal with World Liberty Financial, which hasn’t previously been reported, was signed by Eric Trump, the president’s son. At least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder who weeks earlier had been named U.S. envoy to the Middle East, the documents said."

The report prompted outrage from political insiders and analysts.

Gregg Carlstrom of The Economist said, "To call this the most corrupt administration in American history doesn't really do it justice, because no prior president, Republican or Democrat, would have even conceived of a grift on this scale."

Ex-GOP lawmaker Barbara Comstock chimed in, "When the Trump corruption story is in the WSJ…are the leaks coming from inside the house?….."

Political scientist Brendan Nyhan added Sunday, "Corruption at a level that is unimaginable in any previous admin. People were mad that Hunter Biden sold some mediocre paintings."

The Tennessee Holler asked, "So… a bribe? Trump got $500 Million and U.A.E. got 'tightly guarded' A.I. chips. How is this not a bribe, exactly?"

Activist Garry Kasparov wrote, "Nearly every day brings a real Trump corruption scandal that is billions beyond even the most creative fantasies about Hunter Biden. US power and influence exchanged to enrich Trump and his family."

Foreign 'spy Sheikh' secretly bought 'unprecedented' stake in Trump's company: WSJ

David McAfee
February 1, 2026

RAW STORY

U.S. President Donald Trump greets a member of the United Arab Emirates' delegation, as he stands next to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at Qasr Al Watan, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

For the first time in American history, a foreign government official took "a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president's company," according to a report Saturday night.

According to the Wall Street Journal's reporting, a so-called "spy Sheikh" signed an "unprecedented" deal to buy part of Trump's company for half of a billion dollars.

According to the report, "Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, according to company documents and people familiar with the matter."


The article continues:

"The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities. The deal with World Liberty Financial, which hasn’t previously been reported, was signed by Eric Trump, the president’s son. At least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder who weeks earlier had been named U.S. envoy to the Middle East, the documents said."


It further states that the "investment was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal who has been pushing the U.S. for access to tightly guarded artificial intelligence chips, according to people familiar with the matter. Tahnoon—sometimes referred to as the 'spy sheikh'—is brother to the United Arab Emirates’ president, the government’s national security adviser, as well as the leader of the oil-rich country’s largest wealth fund. He oversees a more than $1.3 trillion empire funded by his personal fortune and state money that spans from fish farms to AI to surveillance, making him one of the most powerful single investors in the world."


Read it here.

Trump threatens legal action against Grammy host over Epstein comment

THIN SKINNED TYRANT THREATENS COURT JESTER

By AFP
February 2, 2026


South African comedian Trevor Noah hosting the 68th Annual Grammy Awards - Copyright AFP VALERIE MACON

Donald Trump threatened legal action on Monday against the host of the 68th Grammy Awards over the comedian’s comment on the US president and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

After congratulating Billie Eilish for winning the Grammy for Song of the Year for her track “Wildflower,” host Trevor Noah brought up Trump and Epstein.

“Wow. That’s a Grammy that every artist wants — almost as much as Trump wants Greenland,” he quipped, referring to the president’s threats to seize the autonomous Arctic territory.

Noah then added: “Which makes sense because, since Epstein’s gone, he needs a new island to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

Noah, who announced that this will be his final year hosting the Grammys after six turns as emcee, has been light on political commentary in previous years.

His comments drew the ire of the president, who took to his Truth Social platform first saying that the “Grammy Awards are the WORST and virtually unwatchable,” before criticizing Noah.

“I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory, statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media,” Trump asserted.

The Republican then branded South African Noah a “total loser” who needs to “get his facts straight.”

“I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C. … Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you!” Trump added.

Trump, who moved in the same social circles as Epstein in Florida and New York, has fought for months to prevent the release of a vast trove of documents about the disgraced financier and has given varying accounts of why he eventually fell out with Epstein.

More than three million documents were released on Friday that included mention of numerous powerful figures, including the 79-year-old president, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Gavin Newsom's press office mocks Trump's Grammy tirade with 'participation prize' jab

Ewan Gleadow
February 2, 2026 

RAW STORY

California Governor Gavin Newsom, along with local congressional representatives, state officials and supporters, speaks as he announces the redrawing of California's congressional maps, calling on voters to approve a ballot measure, in response to a similar move in Texas being supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Gavin Newsom's Press Office has released a mocking statement over Donald Trump's comments on the Grammy Awards.

The president made his distaste for this year's music awards show known with a lengthy Truth Social post earlier today. Governor of California Newsom's press office

A statement written in capital letters, posted to Governor Newsom's Press Office X account, reads, "I can't believe very talented artists like Kid Rock and Nicki Minaj were snubbed again and will be walking home with zero (0) Grammys.


"The haters will say they are 'trash' artists who are just desperate for attention. Wrong!!! They are okay artists who are desperate for attention. Their recent PR 'performances' are strong enough to earn a participation prize at minimum.

"Because the Grammys failed, I will be awarding Kid and Nicki the California Music Participation Peace Prize (at the Newsom Kennedy Center), a very prestigious award decided by my 'peace' board, which I alone appoint. This restores fairness to music. Thank you for your attention to this matter. - Governor GCN."

The mocking statement from Newsom's Press Office comes shortly after Trump made his own post to Truth Social criticizing Trevor Noah and suggesting his legal team may get involved over a joke about Epstein's Island.

Trump wrote, "The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable! CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer. The host, Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the Low Ratings Academy Awards. Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island.

"WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast.

"It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$. Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you! President DJT."

Trump denies visiting Epstein Island in Truth Social post criticizing Grammy Awards

Ewan Gleadow
February 2, 2026 
RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump listens to remarks during a swearing-in ceremony for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Donald Trump has denied he ever visited Epstein Island in a Truth Social post criticizing this year's Grammy Awards show.

The president posted a lengthy statement on February 2 regarding a joke made by Trevor Noah. Trump has since suggested he will contact his legal team over the comment made by show host Noah.

Trump wrote, "The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable! CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer. The host, Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the Low Ratings Academy Awards. Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island

"WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast.

"It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$. Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you! President DJT."

Trump was named more than 3,000 times in the Justice Department’s release Friday of around 3.5 million files on Jeffrey Epstein, and on Saturday, he vowed vengeance against author Michael Wolff and potentially Epstein’s estate for what the president alleged was a conspiratorial effort to damage him politically.

“Wolff, who’s a third-rate writer, was conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to hurt me politically or otherwise and that came through loud and clear,” Trump told reporters Saturday, The Independent reported Sunday. “So we’ll probably sue Wolf on that… maybe the Epstein estate, I guess. I don’t know. But we’ll certainly sue Wolff.”

Despite the newly unearthed allegations, Trump has and is not facing any criminal charges related to his past relationship with Epstein, and has denied any and all wrongdoing.

New Epstein docs reveal 'nauseating' details about Trump's next Fed pick: GOP analyst

Robert Davis
February 1, 2026 
RAW STORY



FILE PHOTO: Kevin Warsh, Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York City, U.S., May 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The new Jeffrey Epstein files released on Friday include "nauseating" details about President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, according to one GOP analyst.

Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, wrote in a new Substack essay on Sunday that the January 30 Epstein files dump included details about Kevin Warsh, who Trump recently announced as his pick to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in May. Wilson argued that Warsh's name appeared in the files "like a bad penny."

"It is a bit of timing so on-the-nose it would be rejected by a mediocre political thriller," Wilson wrote. "Warsh, a man whose resume reads like a checklist for the Davos-and-Hamptons set, isn’t just a “Wall Street veteran” or an Estée Lauder heir by marriage; he is now a recurring character in the Epstein ledger."


Several high-profile figures in the Trump administration and people who have known the president personally for years were implicated in the latest Epstein files release. The files include allegations that the president forced teenage girls to perform oral sex on him, emails showing Trump ally Elon Musk visited the infamous Epstein island, and details about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's friendship with the disgraced financier, which Lutnick has denied.

Wilson argued that the release paints a "nauseating" pitcure of the people in controls of the levers of power.


"While the DOJ is quick to point out that proximity isn’t a crime, the visual is nauseating: the man who will soon hold the literal keys to the American economy was once just another name on a spreadsheet for a monster’s social calendar," he added. "It is the ultimate 'loyalty test' for the new regime: appointing a man who rubbed elbows with the abyss to oversee the Federal Reserve, proving once again that in this administration, the only disqualification is a conscience."


Read the entire essay by clicking here.

Epstein files force resignation of Slovak diplomat Lajčák as PM Fico’s security advisor

Miroslav Lajčák resigned as Prime Minister Robert Fico’s foreign and security advisor. / Miroslav Lajčák via X

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By Albin Sybera in Prague February 1, 2026

Slovak and EU diplomat Miroslav Lajčák resigned as Prime Minister Robert Fico’s foreign and security advisor after the publication of the latest round of the so-called Epstein files. 

The files appear to show Lajčák discussing arranging women for himself with the sentenced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who died while in custody in 2019. In 2018, Lajčák was also reported to have offered to set up a meeting between Fico and Donald Trump’s then aide and far right ideologue Steve Bannon.

Lajčák wrote that he was offering his resignation to Fico “not because I would commit something criminal or unethical”, but so the PM “does not carry political costs for something, which is not connected to his decisions”.

“I realise I am used as a tool for a political attack on the prime minister today,” Lajčák wrote in a statement shared by Slovak press agency TASR and other Slovak media on January 31.

Fico accepted the resignation and used the opportunity to describe the public outrage over the extent of Lajčák’s involvement in the Epstein files as “an attack against me”. He also praised Lajčák as “a great diplomat” for offering his resignation.

Lajčák has been under increased pressure from the opposition in Bratislava since January 30, after the revelations that in October 2018, while serving as the Slovak minister of foreign affairs, he reportedly asked Epstein to participate in his “games”.

In a private conversation shared by the BBC, Lajčák added that “I would take the ‘MI’ girl” to which Epstein replied in a text message "who wouldn’t”, adding "you can have them both, I am not possessive. And their sisters".

The conversation later includes parts where Epstein asks Lajčák to ask Russian chief diplomat Sergei Lavrov to get him a t-shirt with Lavrov and Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, who died in 2017.

"You get the tee shirt. Then you get the girls," Epstein wrote to Lajčák, who agreed, and the two then exchanged more comments about women.

The latest round of more than 3mn Epstein files, released by the US Justice Department on January 30, also includes an email by Lajčák in which he asks Epstein for help to get a female film producer shortlisted for 2017 Oscars.

Lajčák was also reported to have offered to set up a meeting between Fico and Bannon after Fico was forced to step down as PM amid mass demonstrations sparked by the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018, Slovak online news outlet 360ka highlighted.   

“Btw, I have a person for him in Slovakia – my ex-PM Fico. He is out of government and looking for a new agenda. He would be happy to play Steve’s game. And he is good,” Lajčák reportedly texted Bannon. Lajčák denied to 360ka that he was setting up a meeting between Bannon and Fico.

Lajčák, who also served as president of the United Nations General Assembly in 2017-2018 and EU’s special representative to the Western Balkan region in 2020-2025, said he did not recall the communication “after such a time span”.

He stressed that “sexual services had never been offered to me, I never took part in any, I did not witness any” while he also “condemned the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein”, adding that “there would have been no communication if I knew the full scale of his deeds at the time”.

Michal Šimečka, chairman of the largest opposition party, centrist Progressive Slovakia, called on Lajčák to step down shortly after the release of the latest batch of the Epstein files, recalling Lajčák’s previous appearances in the files.

“As though it has not been enough, he [Lajčák] also says there [in the Epstein files] he loves Lavrov, and offers Robert Fico as suitable figure for goals of the American far right,” Šimečka wrote on his Facebook social media profile.

After Lajčák resigned, Šimečka also called on Fico to tell the public whether he had ever met Epstein or Bannon, noting that the “prime minister must clearly disprove, or bear responsibility for suspicions of influencing our domestic as well as foreign politics from similarly toxic persons”.     

Fico steered his Smer party deep into national conservative waters after 2018, then managed to return to power in 2023 on a radical nationalist and anti-Ukrainian ticket.

Fico and Trump have curried favour with each other ever since Trump’s return to the White House, and the Slovak strongman even visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence last month. Both of them have attacked the EU for its green policies, and have been criticised for being pro-Russian.

Hedonism’s Dance: How the Governing Classes Fell for Jeffrey Epstein

by Binoy Kampmark / February 2nd, 2026

How did he generate so much paperwork, traffic and comment? New York financier, mountebank, all purposes conman and dedicated rake that he was, Jeffrey Epstein continues to nag living figures from beyond the grave and place them in a tight spot of bother. His correspondence with these individuals runs into the millions, a figure suggesting his only work in life was being a pimp for pleasure and valet to the rotten.

The press vultures have been feeding most excitedly on the latest carrion released by the US Department of Justice on January 30 in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, comprising some 3.5 million pages with more than 180,000 images and 2,000 videos. “Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance,” stated Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Leaving aside Blanche’s perky claim to thoroughbred compliance, those found corresponding or engaging with Epstein have had to qualify any engagement with the late financier as utterly innocent and certainly unconnected to the sexual trafficking arm he operated with the incarcerated Ghislaine Maxwell, herself the daughter of that mighty confidence trickster, serial litigant and press mogul, Robert Maxwell. What did not seem to bother Epstein’s vast network of correspondents, foolish confidants and dissolute playmates was a conviction for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl in 2008. The sinner always knows best.

The list of the dishonourable is long and impossible to enumerate without expectorating. A handful of rummy specimens will suffice. We have the morally stunted tech brat billionaire Elon Musk discussing travel to Epstein’s properties for reasons of entertainment. “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?”, he asks in one yearning inquiry. Musk continued to press the financier for information of any planned parties, claiming that he needed to “let loose”. “I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose.”

In 2009, despite Epstein serving a prison sentence at the time, the emails reveal the financial provision of a loan to Lord Peter Mandelson’s husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva regarding an osteopathy course. Mandelson, the Mr Fixit of Britain’s New Labour, had his tenure as UK ambassador to Washington terminated once the cloacal gatherings of his association with Epstein proved too hard to ignore.

We find Britain’s founder of Virgin Group, Richard Branson, expressing his pleasure at meeting Epstein before adding “Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!” (The company hurriedly tried to dispel any needless assumptions of prurience: “harem” in this case was a reference to three adult members of the Epstein team.)

As is already known, royalty is not exempt from the turd lined trough. Recently deprived of his status as prince for scouring Epstein’s fleshpots with rutting glee, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, known as “The Duke” in the correspondence, is most accommodating to Epstein in emails sent in September 2010. “We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy,” suggests Epstein. The reply: “Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I’ll be here free from 1600ish.”

The matter gets even more squalid with Mountbatten-Windsor’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, calling Epstein the “brother” she “had always wished for”. (The provision of £15,000 to pay off her debts probably helped.) Showing how liberal his house arrest conditions were, Ferguson implies that the pair had lunch. An August 2009 exchange points to a meeting between Epstein and her daughters, Prince Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. “I have never been more touched by a friends [sic] kindness than your compliment to me in front of my girls.”

Showing that the royals of other countries also slid into the honeypot, Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit had extensive contact with Epstein between 2011 and 2014. From what can be gleaned from the correspondence, the financier had made quite an impression, being “soft hearted” and “such a sweetheart”. In one message dated November 1, 2012, the crown princess responds to a message of sheer gibberish discussing the protective facilities of nature and the problems of unnatural products. “You always make me smile,” she reflects. “Because you tickle my brain.”

The timing was most unfortunate for Mette-Marit, as her son, Marius Borg Høiby, is facing 38 criminal charges, including allegations of rape of four women including assault and drug offences. “I showed poor judgment and I deeply regret having had any contact with Epstein,” she said in a statement, conjuring up contrition. “It is simply embarrassing.”

Figures from the world of sports are not exempt. “We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” claimed New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, mentioned over 400 times in the files. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”

To keep Tisch in sporting company is chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Casey Wasserman. In his case, it was an enduring infatuation with Epstein’s collaborator in vice, Ghislaine. “I think of you all the time,” he says in a charged exchange in 2003. “So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” A statement from Wasserman on the matter expressed “regret” for correspondence “which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light.”

A generous assessment of these files would suggest the sense of sheer beguilement shown by Epstein’s correspondents, who seemed to be playing fools during much of their acquaintanceships. But the cosmic expansiveness of it all at the highest social and political level points to the ethically desiccated nature of the governing classes and their willingness to be depraved and blinded. Operating in the realm of power and influence, these figures have shown themselves to be dunces and cavorters before hedonism’s dance, utterly indifferent to the prospect that they would, eventually, be found out.

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com. Read other articles by Binoy.