Facing the biggest Republican rebellion of his second term, President Donald Trump reversed course Sunday night and told House Republicans to vote for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files — a capitulation that one White House aide described as abandoning a “losing battle” to kill legislation his own party was planning to defy him on.
In public, it was a surprising reversal. In private, Trump aides and allies were preparing for a loss, hoping the president would stay quiet. Ultimately, the president accepted the writing on the wall.
Trump’s natural instinct is to fight. But on the potential release of the Epstein files, he’s taken on “too defensive of a posture,” said a person close to the White House granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking. That, they said, “undercuts a lot of his good instincts.”
This is a preview of Jake Traylor and Laura Barrón-López's latest article. Read the full article here.
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