Full disclosure. Ron was working for tRump at Mar-a-largo as his nighttime butler and nighttime house supervisor. He knew all about this and told me of it. Sadly he couldn’t do anything about it other than give the doctor and staff comfort and support.
Meredith Kile is a Digital News Writer-Editor at PEOPLE. She has been an entertainment and political journalist for more than a decade, previously working for Entertainment Tonight, VICE and Al Jazeera America.
The report, which cites unnamed former Mar-a-Lago and Epstein employees, claims that Trump’s spa would send masseuses, manicurists and other spa workers to Epstein’s nearby residence.
“Epstein wasn’t a dues-paying member of the club, but Trump told staff to treat him like one, the employees said,” according to the report.
It also alleges that workers “warned each other about Epstein, who was known among staff for being sexually suggestive and exposing himself during the appointments.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Journal that the publication was “writing up fallacies and innuendo in order to smear President Trump.”
“No matter how many times this story is told and retold, the truth remains: President Trump did nothing wrong and he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for being a creep,” Leavitt said in a text message.
Leavitt’s claim about Trump kicking Epstein out seems to align with the Journal’s reporting, which goes on to say that, in 2003, an 18-year-old worker returned to Mar-a-Lago from an Epstein house call and said the billionaire had “pressured her for sex.”
“A manager sent Trump a fax relaying the employee’s allegations and urged him to ban Epstein, some of the former employees said,” the report claims. “Trump told the manager it was a good letter and said to kick him out.”
The incident was not reported to police, according to WSJ. However, two years later, Epstein would be investigated after a parent alleged that he sexually abused her 14-year-old daughter. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.
That conviction preceded the 2019 charges of sex trafficking, for which Epstein was awaiting trial when he died in prison. The billionaire’s friendships with many high-profile celebrities and businessmen have been highly scrutinized in recent months as Trump’s Department of Justice — which was ordered to release all evidence in the Epstein case by Dec. 19 — has continued to release documents and photos one batch at a time.
One of the documents, dated Oct. 27, 2020, appeared to be an FBI intake report that featured the account of a former limo driver, who claimed to have met Trump in 1995, when he said he drove the real estate mogul to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
The document read, “[Driver] reported some of the things President Trump had spoken about during the ride while on his cell phone were very concerning. [Driver] reported he was ‘a few seconds from pulling the limousine over on the median and within a few seconds of pulling him out of the car and hurting him, due to some of the things he was saying.’ “
Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in 2000.Davidoff Studios/Getty
While telling the story to an unnamed woman years later, the driver alleged that the woman went “stone cold.”
“[Woman] stated, ‘He raped me,'” the FBI intake report read. “[Driver] said, ‘What?’ as [Woman] replied ‘Donald J. Trump had raped her along with Jeffrey Epstein.’ “
The Department of Justice took proactive measures against the claims while releasing the new batch of documents. In a Tuesday, Dec. 23, statement on social media, they wrote, “The Department of Justice has officially released nearly 30,000 more pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.”
“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the statement continued. “Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”
Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)
Wednesday, January 07, 2026 at 2:15:25p EST
The US officially acknowledged Denmark’s rights
On 4 August 1916, Denmark’s rights to Greenland were confirmed by the United States, as part of a deal that facilitated the American purchase of the Danish West Indies. That deal, the Treaty of the Danish West Indies was signed at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City. The US got the Danish West Indies, now known as the US Virgin Islands. Denmark got US$25,000,000 in gold and the United States’ recognition of Denmark’s rights over Greenland. [Those rights had been in some dispute with Norway because Greenland had been a colony of the monarchy of Denmark and Norway which broke apart in 1814.]
Some later history from Mikkel Runge Olesen:
“After the Second World War, the United Nations pushed for decolonization in Greenland. In 1953, the former colony was incorporated into Denmark and granted two seats in the Danish Parliament. In 1979, Greenland achieved Home Rule, which included the formation of the Greenlandic Parliament, and it gained self-rule in 2009 through the passage of a law that included a ‘blueprint’ for seeking independence. The 2009 law firmly established that the decision to go for independence from Denmark would now rest with the Greenlandic people.”
The middle of the video shows the ICE thug not giving the woman time to do as ordered. She was told to move her car and leave she was trying but got cut off by another auto, the ICE thug grabbed the door handle as she was starting to pull out and he already had his gun out. He stuck the gun into the open window and shot her point blank. He was in no danger as he was beside the car not in front of it. When Ron saw the video as I was watching the show on the kitchen TV while doing dishes and he broke down in tears over it. I was also very upset. Gang thugs rampaging in cities with no restraint on what they are allowed to do. These are gang members, militia members, and Jan 6th insurrectionists. They are Stephen Millers brownshirts and Gestapo. You know Miller the guy who said on national TV that the president must never be questioned and is a white supremacist Jewish Nazi. He has claimed he doesn’t consider him self a Jew but I be the Nazi’s do. Hugs
PLEASE buy from people who have not filled their goals!
Did you know that for a long time, Girl Scouts has openly included transgender and nonbinary individuals in its membership? I first learned of this five years ago while searching for a source for my annual Girl Scout cookie purchase. At that time, a wave of anti-trans sentiment was intensifying, prompting me to seek out transgender Girl Scouts from whom to order. One major benefit of their online ordering system is that it allows for trans girl scouts to sell their cookies with relative privacy and no contact between the scout and the purchaser when it comes to online orders.
My initial effort was a success, meeting the goals of every single scout featured on the page. The achievement felt wonderful during what seemed like one of the most severe legislative attacks on transgender children in recent memory. Unbeknownst to us, each subsequent year would bring greater such attacks. Since then, every year I’ve repeated this initiative, we’ve surpassed our previous sales, leading to coverage in multiple major media outlets. Last year, scouts on our list sold 50,000+ girl scout cookies!
It is that time of year again. Please consider choosing a trans girl scout to get your cookies from this year – the kids are under attack this year more than ever, so lets give them some joy. And for those of you who have a trans scout yourself, you can submit your scout’s info here.
Note: When purchasing from one of these trans girl scouts, please choose the “ship the cookies” option and not the “deliver the cookies” by hand option. And make sure to refresh the page, more will be added every few days. I will also be rearranging their order periodically.
With no further adieu, here are the scouts! Please check back as many more often request to be added after publication, and I will keep this post updated with any that join in:
Troop 65426: Troop 65426 is an inclusive troop with two trans scouts and two nonbinary scouts (Junior and Cadette levels). They’re raising funds for an educational trip to Europe and to support a local agency that trains service dogs for people with autism, PTSD, and other disabilities. You can buy cookies from them here!
Yaz: Yaz is working on their Silver Award by running self-defense classes for local LGBTQIA+ youth. They’re also creating an LGBTQIA+ Acceptance patch. You can buy cookies from them here!
Omri: Omri is a Brownie Girl Scout who loves gymnastics, figure skating, and swimming. She also enjoys researching the Titanic and mythical creatures, and her troop is saving cookie money for a trip to Rollhouse! You can buy cookies from her here!
Wxy: Wxy is an 11-year-old nonbinary scout who loves cats (current obsession: Garfield). They helped start a kids filmmaking program for their troop’s Bronze Award project so everyone can tell their story, and they’re fundraising to replace seven refrigerators at Camp Hoover. You can buy cookies from them here!
Phoenix: Phoenix is a first-year Junior, and their troop is saving up for a big Savannah trip next year. They’re also excited for horseback riding, camping, Sea World, and service projects. You can buy cookies from them here!
Ace: Ace is an out-and-proud nonbinary scout who’s active with their troop, service unit, and council, and also shows up for their local LGBTQ youth group. They’re currently working on their Silver Award and leadership hours, always ready to support their rainbow friends. You can buy cookies from them here!
Hi all. I hate to keep posting such negative awful stuff in the new year but what I always wanted to do with this blog is to give a voice to those that don’t have one. It is hard to read all these news articles but please remember while we sit comfortably in our homes there are others struggling to simply survive. The more we learn about these people the more we might be able to help. This shows how many of the Israeli population are complicit and simply don’t care about the suffering of the Palestinians. This is why I say it is not just the Israeli government but the countries media leading the population into compliance and hate for the Palestinian people. Remember they stormed the offices of the justice department of a judge trying to hold IDF soldiers to account for violently raping a Palestinian man causing life threatening injuries. Those IDF soldiers when on TV later to brag about what they did. Thanks for all who read / watch and add your voice to the conversation. Best wishes and hugs. Scottie
Israeli Influencer Uses Starving Gaza Children to Make Funny Video
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- An Israeli social media creator mocked Palestinian suffering by using footage of starving children lining up for a hot meal in Gaza during Israel’s blockade on aid in a funny video.
Morya Apple captioned the video: “Me on a normal day when I reach three in the afternoon without putting anything in my mouth” versus “Me on a fast day at 10 in the morning”.
Videos of Israeli content creators making fun of Palestinians suffering without water, food and electricity have gone viral over the past two years during the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.
Last year, an Israeli Tiktok trend showed Israeli settlers prank-calling family members, pretending to seek donations for Palestinian children, to mock their suffering in Gaza.
Three children’s hospitals are under federal investigation for providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth, as the Trump administration continues to use all the levers it can to block such care.
Health and Human Services (HHS) General Counsel Mike Stuart has referred three children’s hospitals to the agency’s inspector general’s office: Seattle Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Children’s Minnesota. Gender-affirming care for trans youth is legal in all three states. But HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last month announced that medical practitioners who provide gender-affirming care to minors are out of compliance with federal health care standards. Now, the agency is enforcing that declaration.
In response, Children’s Hospital Colorado has reportedly paused gender-affirming care for trans youth. Children’s Minnesota did not respond to a request for comment, and its website states that “at this time, our gender health services remain unchanged.” Seattle Children’s hospital also did not respond.
Another hospital, Denver Health, has also paused gender-affirming care for trans youth since Kennedy’s declaration, although the hospital does not appear to be under investigation.
In earlier efforts by Trump administration officials to investigate and halt gender-affirming care, both Children’s Hospital Colorado and Seattle Children’s Hospital successfully fought back against Justice Department subpoenas seeking trans patients’ medical information.
The administration previously pressured hospitals to halt gender-affirming care by threatening to revoke federal funding, which worked in many cases, but these HHS investigationsmark a new escalation. They stem from Kennedy saying that, under his authority as health secretary, he can unilaterally decide that gender-affirming care — which he calls “sex-rejecting procedures” — is not a safe and effective treatment for trans youth.
The response from states has been swift. Just before Christmas, 19 states — including Washington state, Colorado, and Minnesota — and Washington, D.C., sued Kennedy and the federal health agency over the announcement. The states’ lawsuit says the declaration harms their ability to administer state Medicaid plans in accordance with local laws protecting gender-affirming care.
“To me, the declaration is the extremely clear way they are trying to just shut down this care all across the country,” said Katie Keith, director of the center for health policy and the law at the O’Neill Institute at Georgetown Law. “They are trying to ban it nationwide for minors.”
On X, Stuart said that all three hospitals were referred to the agency’s inspector general’s office for failing to meet “recognized standards of health care,” citing Kennedy’s declaration.
The HHS has also proposed two new rules to restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth — both of which must still go through an approval process before they can be enforced. One rule would blockhospitals from receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds if they provide gender-affirming care to trans youth. That care includes hormone replacement therapy for adolescents and puberty blockers for young kids who are experiencing dysphoria — intense discomfort or anxiety felt when someone’s physical gender is out of sync with their identity. It also includes surgery, which is very rarely performed on minors.
Another proposed rule would bar Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for youth under 18 and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from covering such care for youth under 19. This would disproportionately impact low-income trans youth.Technically, states could still use their own funds for coverage — but experts say that would be extremely burdensome and ultimately cause gaps in care.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians and other specialists, strongly condemned these proposals, saying that they misrepresent current medical consensus and create uncertainty for patients.
“These rules are a baseless intrusion into the patient-physician relationship,” the group said in a statement. “Patients, their families, and their physicians — not politicians or government officials — should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them.”The American Civil Liberties Union has said it will challenge these two restrictions in court if they are finalized.
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2026 January 7 Simeis 147: The Spaghetti Nebula Supernova Remnant Image Credit & Copyright: Saverio Ferretti
Explanation: Its popular nickname is the Spaghetti Nebula. Officially cataloged as Simeis 147 and Sharpless 2-240, it is easy to get lost following the looping and twisting filaments of this intricate supernova remnant. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full moons. That’s about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud’s estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this powerful stellar explosion first reached the Earth when woolly mammoths roamed free. Besides the expanding remnant, this cosmic catastrophe left behind a pulsar, a fast-spinning neutron star that is the remnant of the original star’s core. The featured image was captured last month from Forca Canapine, Italy.
Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator Tomorrow’s picture: hidden galaxy in the giraffe
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Scottie's Playtime 
