Trump treats with MbS as Epstein Files loom

The contrast could hardly have been starker. As Donald Trump palled around with Mohammed bin Salman in the newly gilded Oval Office, Congress was voting on a transparency act that would further expose Jeffrey Epstein’s grave misdeeds. Trump, who had worked overtime to try and quash the vote, was in his element with the Saudi crown prince. Transparency? Not a bit of it. Trump proclaimed that the crown prince “knew nothing” about the death of Jamal Khashoggi who was, after all, “extremely controversial,” the term that he often deploys to describe anyone he dislikes or finds nettlesome. 

The hero, or, to put it more precisely, heroine, of the day was Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene is a profile in courage. She stood up for Epstein’s victims in an honorable and upright fashion that underscored the sordid nature of Trump’s attempt to suppress the release of the files in possession of the Justice Department. What those files will reveal is an open question. The likelihood that they will divulge anything incriminating about Trump seems slender – other than the fact that he has battled so ardently to prevent them from seeing the light of day.  

In seeking to bury the files, Trump has been defending the very establishment that he professes to despise. Greene, in battling to ensure the release of the files, has revealed the rampant corruption in elite America, including the escapades of former Harvard president Larry Summers. Trump has referred to Greene as Marjorie “Traitor” Greene. She hit back today outside the US Capitol in the presence of Epstein’s victims, one of whom eloquently demanded that Trump stop seeking to politicize the brouhaha over the files.  

According to Greene, “I fought for him for the policies and for America First. And he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition. Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of Americans and Americans like the women standing behind me.” Strong words. 

If Greene has been on something of a tear lately, she’s not the only one that has administered a shellacking to Trump. He has been suffering a number of defeats in other arenas. The latest arrived this afternoon when a Texas federal court struck down the state’s redistricting map that was designed to ensure an additional five Republican seats in Congress. The worst blow is that Trump originally appointed the judge who wrote the decision, Jeffrey V. Brown.  

Trump’s remedy has been to retreat to foreign policy, where he effectively enjoys a form of suzerainty, at least for now. He’s been making noises about attacking Nigeria and Venezuela. For the next day or so, he will enjoy his bromance with the crown prince, escorting him to a grand dinner tonight. Meanwhile, he’s planning to sell him F-35 fighter jets, a move that Congress may seek to block, particularly since Israel is opposed to the deal. A lucrative real-estate deal also appears to be in the offing, no matter the public outcry. 

Trump himself could not appear to be more blasé. MAGA, as Marjorie Taylor Greene put it, is being “ripped apart.” Trump, though, is enjoying hanging out with his new pal from Riyadh. “We talk at night. We can talk, I can call him almost any time,” Trump said. “He goes, ‘Hi, how are you doing.’ It’s like, the craziest times.” It is indeed.