Trump Calls for Release of ‘Pertinent’ Material From Epstein Grand Jury

Summary

WSJ What’s News: Trump Calls for Release of ‘Pertinent’ Material From Epstein Grand Jury

Release Date: July 18, 2025
Host: Alex Osola
Producer: Pierre Bienname

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1. President Trump's Demand for Epstein Grand Jury Documents

Overview:
In a significant development, former President Donald Trump has publicly called for the release of grand jury materials related to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender. This move intensifies ongoing tensions between Trump and various media outlets, particularly following the Wall Street Journal's (WSJ) recent investigative reporting.

Key Points:

• Trump's Call and Denials:
  President Trump has demanded the disclosure of grand jury documents linked to Epstein. This request comes on the heels of a WSJ article that revealed a letter bearing Trump's name in Epstein's 2003 birthday album. Trump has vehemently denied authoring the letter or contributing any artwork, labeling the allegations as "fake."

  “fake thing” — President Trump [00:42]

• Legal Actions Against Media:
  In response to the allegations, Trump announced plans to sue News Corp., the parent company of Dow Jones (the publisher of WSJ), and Rupert Murdoch, the chair emeritus of News Corp. A spokesperson for News Corp. has yet to comment on these developments.

• Justice Department's Stance:
  Recent Justice Department documents, referred to as the "Epstein files," have sparked controversy within the Trump administration. A memo revealed that a thorough review found no list of Epstein's clients or additional documents for public disclosure, drawing ire from Trump's supporters who feel the matter is being mishandled.

Insights from WSJ Reporter Khadijah Safter:
Khadijah Safter, co-author of the WSJ story on the Epstein letters, discussed her investigative process. She uncovered a meticulously compiled 50th birthday album for Epstein, containing contributions from his associates. This discovery provided deeper insights into Epstein's connections with powerful individuals.

“It's a leather-bound album that was professionally bound...a very special gift that was put together before his arrest in 2006.” — Khadijah Safter [02:09]

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2. Corporate Maneuvers: Chevron and ExxonMobil's Battle Over Hess Acquisition

Overview:
Chevron has successfully navigated an arbitration process to finalize its $53 billion acquisition of Hess, overcoming significant challenges posed by ExxonMobil’s competing bid.

Key Points:

• Arbitration Outcome:
  An arbitration panel has ruled in favor of Chevron, allowing the completion of its Hess acquisition. This followed a protracted battle where ExxonMobil contested Chevron's bid by asserting preemptive rights over Hess's stake in Guyana's Stabroek Offshore project.

• Post-Arbitration Moves:
  Chevron has closed the deal and plans to nominate John Hess, Hess’s longtime CEO, to its board. ExxonMobil, while disagreeing with the arbitration panel's decision, has expressed respect for the process and announced the reversal of the FTC's order barring former Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield from its board.

• Market Impact:
  The acquisition battle has stirred significant attention within the oil industry, marking one of the most intense rivalries between major oil companies in decades.

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3. Economic Indicators: Stock Market and Consumer Sentiment

Overview:
U.S. stock markets showed mixed performances, while consumer sentiment and housing starts presented nuanced pictures of the economy's resilience.

Key Points:

• Stock Market Performance:

  • Nasdaq: Increased by approximately 0.5%, reaching its 11th record high of the year.
  • Dow Jones: Declined by around 0.3%.
  • S&P 500: Remained relatively flat.

• Consumer Sentiment:
  A University of Michigan survey indicated that consumer sentiment has continued its recovery, hitting a five-month high. However, the sentiment remains significantly below the levels observed at the end of the previous year.

  “The index rose slightly to 61.8 in preliminary July numbers, in line with economists' expectations.” — WSJ Report [Undated]

• Housing Market:
  According to the Commerce Department, housing starts in June saw a modest increase to 1.32 million from May’s revised 1.26 million, aligning with economic forecasts. Despite this uptick, housing starts remain down year-over-year.

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4. Meta’s Stance on EU’s AI Code of Practice

Overview:
Meta Platforms has announced its decision not to sign the European Union's (EU) Code of Practice for General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence, citing regulatory overreach and uncertainty.

Key Points:

• Meta’s Position:
  Meta argues that the EU's code exceeds the necessary scope of AI legislation, introducing unnecessary complexities and uncertainties for AI development and deployment.

• EU’s Response:
  The European Commission stated that AI model providers opting out of the code would still need to adhere to the broader AI Act, potentially facing increased regulatory scrutiny.

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5. The Genius Act: Regulating Stablecoins and Banking Implications

Overview:
President Trump has signed the Genius Act into law, a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency community. This legislation establishes regulations for stablecoins, digital assets designed to mirror the value of traditional currencies.

Key Points:

• Legislative Compromise:
  The Genius Act represents a middle ground, resulting from negotiations between traditional financial institutions and cryptocurrency entities. It sets foundational rules aimed at integrating stablecoins into the mainstream financial system while addressing potential risks.

  “This is a piece of legislation that was the product of compromise and the focus of lobbying by both banks and members of the traditional financial industry and stablecoin issuers, cryptocurrency companies.” — Khadijah Safter [08:00]

• Impact on Banks:

  • Risks:
    Banks are concerned that stablecoins could siphon off deposits, posing a threat to their traditional business models. The act prohibits stablecoins from offering yields or interest to prevent them from competing directly with bank deposits.

    “There are prohibitions in the bill against offering yield or interest to the consumers for holding stablecoins...” — Khadijah Safter [09:18]

  • Opportunities:
    Larger banks are exploring ways to capitalize on the emergence of stablecoins, including launching their own digital currencies and charging fees for facilitating transactions.

    “Big banks are looking at all sorts of different ways that they could make money from this and ward off the competition they see...” — Khadijah Safter [09:25]

• Presidential Endorsement:
  President Trump hailed the signing of the Genius Act as a pivotal moment for American leadership in global finance and crypto technology.

  “...as we sign the landmark Genius act into law. So congratulations to everybody. It is a big deal.” — President Trump [07:21]

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6. U.S. State Department’s Shift on Foreign Election Assessments

Overview:
The U.S. State Department is revising its approach to evaluating foreign elections, moving away from longstanding practices aimed at promoting electoral fairness abroad.

Key Points:

• Policy Change:
  A new memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, instructs the State Department to impose strict limits on public assessments of foreign elections. This marks a departure from previous efforts to advocate for free and fair elections as part of U.S. foreign policy.

• Motivation Behind the Shift:

  • America-First Agenda:
    The policy change aligns with an "America First" stance, emphasizing non-interference and respect for national sovereignty in other countries' electoral processes.

    “They're trying to do this shift back toward this America first agenda. Don't interfere in foreign countries, respect their sovereignty, stop meddling in elections abroad.” — Robbie Grammer [10:29]

  • Historical Context:
    The shift echoes sentiments expressed by President Trump in previous speeches, where he criticized "nation builders" and highlighted the negative consequences of U.S. interventions in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Diplomatic Impact:
  The State Department spokesperson highlighted that the U.S. will continue to uphold democratic values domestically and seek strategic partnerships internationally, irrespective of other nations' governance structures.

  “The United States will celebrate democratic values in the US and abroad, but would also seek partnerships with countries in pursuit of strategic interests regardless of their governance style.” — State Department Spokesperson [11:38]

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7. European Union’s Toughest Sanctions on Russia Since 2022 Invasion

Overview:
The European Union has rolled out its most stringent sanctions against Russia since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, aiming to cripple Russian economic interests further.

Key Points:

• Sanctions Details:

  • Nord Stream Pipelines:
    Efforts to revive the Nord Stream gas pipelines have been blocked, disrupting potential energy collaborations between Russia and Europe.

  • Oil Sales:
    The EU has lowered the price cap on Russian oil exports, aiming to reduce Russia's revenue from oil despite high global prices.

  • Banking Sector:
    Sanctions now extend to banks from third countries, increasing the financial pressure on Russia and potentially straining relations with countries like China.

• Strategic Alignment with U.S. Policies:
  These EU sanctions coincide with increased pressure from the Trump administration, which has been advocating for tighter economic measures against Moscow. European capitals are optimistic that the U.S. will bolster their efforts to isolate Russia economically.

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Upcoming Episodes

• Weekly Markets Wrap-Up:
  Released tomorrow, providing an in-depth analysis of the week's market movements and economic indicators.

• What’s News Sunday - WSJ’s Take on the Week:
  Featuring co-hosts Gunjan Banerjee and Helis Demos in conversation with Chicago Fed Chair Austan Goolsbee, recorded before the Federal Reserve's impending interest rate decision.

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Credits:
Produced by Pierre Bienname
Supervising Producer: Michael Cosmides
Theme Music: Michael Lavalle
Development Producer: Aisha Al Muslim
Deputy Editors: Scott Salloway and Chris Zinsley
Head of News Audio: Falana Patterson

Host:
Alex Osola

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This episode of WSJ What’s News provided a comprehensive overview of significant political developments, corporate battles, economic indicators, and legislative changes impacting both the financial and geopolitical landscapes. From President Trump’s contentious demands related to Jeffrey Epstein's case to the EU's intensified sanctions on Russia, listeners were presented with critical insights shaping the current global environment.

Transcript

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[Alex Osola]

President Trump has called for the release of pertinent material from Epstein's grand jury. Plus why a new law regulating cryptocurrency has got banks on on high alert.

[Khadijah Safter]

This is a piece of legislation that was the product of compromise and the focus of lobbying by both banks and members of the traditional financial industry and stablecoin issuers, cryptocurrency companies and the US.

[Alex Osola]

Is set to stop a long standing practice of commenting on the fairness of foreign elections. It's Friday, July 18th. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. This is a PM edition of what's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world. President Trump has called for the release of grand jury material related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The move follows the publication of an article in the Wall Street Journal about a letter bearing Trump's name that was included in a 2003 birthday album for the disgraced financier. President Trump has denied writing the letter or drawing the picture, calling it a quote, fake thing. The president also said he planned to sue News Corp. The parent company of Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, and as well as Rupert Murdoch, the chair emeritus of News Corp. A News Corp. Spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department documents the so called Epstein files are at the center of a storm consuming the Trump administration. Last week, the Justice Department incensed many of Trump's political base when it said in a memo that a thorough review had turned up no list of Epstein's clients nor any additional documents that warrant public disclosure. Yesterday, President Trump lashed out at his own supporters for refusing to let the matter go. WSJ Enterprise reporter Khadijah Safter, who co authored the story about the letters, told our colleagues at the Journal podcast about the reporting that went into it.

[Robbie Grammer]

I discovered that there was a birthday book that was given to Epstein for his 50th birthday that Ghislaine Maxwell had compiled it and it contained poems, pictures, drawings and and letters from Epstein's family and friends and among those were some powerful people and there was like dozens of associates in this book. It's a leather bound album that was professionally bound. We even spoke to some of the people involved in the bookbinding process. It was like very special gift that was put together and it was assembled before his arrest in 2006 and delivered to him and I was interested to know what those letters said. I also have been doing a lot of Epstein reporting over the course of several years, and I've been trying to understand what his relationships were with different powerful people. In my previous reporting, I had been reviewing schedules and calendars, so this offered another window into the relationships that Epstein had with different powerful people. And it was just a continuation of the reporting that I've been doing for years.

[Alex Osola]

To hear more about this story and Khadijah's ongoing reporting, listen to today's episode of the Journal podcast. We'll leave a link in the show. Notes an arbitration panel has cleared the way for Chevron to complete its $53 billion purchase of Hess. It's the outcome of a dramatic battle between Chevron and ExxonMobil, which had been vying for Hess and its assets. Chevron had originally struck the deal for Hess in October 2023. Last year, Exxon threw a wrench in those plans when it asserted a right to preempt its rival's bid for Hess's 30% stake in Guyana's prolific Stabroek Offshore. Exxon's move to block the deal stunned the oil industry, which hadn't seen titanic oil companies battle to these extremes in decades. Just hours after the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris handed down its ruling, Chevron said it had closed its deal for Hess and that it plans to nominate John Hess, the smaller company's longtime CEO, to its board. Exxon said that it disagreed with the panel's interpretation but respects the arbitration process. Separately, the Federal Trade Commission has reversed its order barring former Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield from Exxon's board. But Sheffield says he's no longer interested in serving as a director of Exxon, accusing the company of signing a rushed, baseless and illegal order with the FTC last year and of effectively breaking the commitment it made to him in the merger agreement with Pioneer. Exxon declined to comment. U.S. stocks closed mostly lower today as updates from banks and consumer focused companies this week have pointed to a resilient economy. But some of the latest results disappointed investors. The Nasdaq rose about half a %, hitting its 11th record of the year. The Dow fell about 0.3%, and the S&P 500 stayed mostly flat. New survey data from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment continued to recover this month, reaching a five month high, though the mood remains considerably worse than it was at the end of last year. The index rose slightly to 61.8 in preliminary July numbers, in line with economists expectations. And according to a Commerce Department report out today, homebuilding recovered a little in the US Last month, but remains down on the year. Housing starts A gauge of new residential construction rose to 1.32 million in June from a revised 1.26 million in May, broadly in line with economists expectations. Meta Platform's chief global affairs officer said the Facebook and Instagram owner wouldn't sign the European Union's Code of Practice for general purpose artificial intelligence. Meta said the code adds uncertainty and goes beyond the scope of AI legislation in the block. A spokesman for the European Commission said AI model providers that opt not to sign the code would still have to comply with the AI act and might be exposed to more regulatory scrutiny. Coming up, stablecoins are poised to become a part of the mainstream financial system and banks are worried. That's after the break.

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[Alex Osola]

President Trump has signed into law the so called Genius Act a day after it passed the House. Speaking at the White House, the President said the signing is a massive validation for the crypto community and a big day for America.

[President Trump]

This afternoon we take a giant step to cement American dominance of global finance and crypto technology as we sign the landmark Genius act into law. So congratulations to everybody. It is a big deal.

[Alex Osola]

The law lays out some ground rules for stablecoins, which function as digital dollars in the wider crypto world. Now, as stablecoins are poised to become a part of the mainstream financial system, banks are on high alert about how the cryptocurrency could threaten their business. I'm joined now by Dylan Tokar who covers financial regulation for the Journal. Dylan, what kinds of challenges do stablecoins present to banks?

[Khadijah Safter]

This is a piece of Legislation that was the product of compromise and the focus of lobbying by both banks and of the traditional financial industry and stablecoin issuers, cryptocurrency companies. And they are very keenly aware that the provisions in the bill are going to dictate who wins and who loses when it comes to the types of products that you and I are used to going to the financial system for like payments. Banks already offer you ways to make payments more quickly and more cost effectively. You have Venmo, you have Zelle. And the question is, are stablecoin issuers going to claw some of that market away from banks? One of the things that we saw in the back and forth over this bill is concerns about whether stablecoins could be used almost like bank deposits to store value. And so there are prohibitions in the bill against offering yield or interest to the consumers for holding stablecoins. And that's because banks are worried that if, you know, this is an appealing competitive product to a bank deposit, then consumers will just go put their money in stablecoins. And that could have really broad implications for the financial system as we know it.

[Alex Osola]

You've laid out some of the ways that stablecoins could present risks to banks, but does this also present an opportunity for banks business?

[Khadijah Safter]

Yeah, absolutely. Particularly we've seen that for the larger banks, there's a bit of a divergence for smaller and bigger banks. Big banks are looking at all sorts of different ways that they could make money from this and ward off the competition they see from this incumbent industry. And they'll do everything from charging fees for on and off ramps to thinking about launching their own stablecoin. We've reported recently that consortium of the big banks are already in the early stages of thinking about launching their own stablecoin.

[Alex Osola]

That was WSJ reporter Dylan Tokar. Thanks, Dylan.

[Khadijah Safter]

Thank you.

[Alex Osola]

The State Department plans to start putting strict limits on its public assessments of foreign elections, a sharp shift away from a practice the US has used for decades to promote fair elections abroad. The new instruction was delivered yesterday in a memo signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Speaking to my colleague Pierre Bienname, national security reporter Robbie Grammer explained why the State Department is making this change.

[Pierre Bienname]

They're trying to do this shift back toward this America first agenda. Don't interfere in foreign countries, respect their sovereignty, stop meddling in elections abroad. And a lot of this goes back to what's been going on in recent decades in U.S. foreign policy. We had these costly interventions in Iraq and in Afghanistan that were really foreign policy disasters. President Trump in May gave a speech in Saudi Arabia that a lot of people see as his seminal foreign policy speech where he vowed the United States would refrain from telling other countries what to do. And he said the so called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built.

[Ryan Reynolds]

How has the US Used such statements in the past as a foreign policy tool?

[Pierre Bienname]

It's been really impactful in the past depending on the country. In bigger countries, the US Embassy, the US Ambassador might not have a lot of clout. But in smaller developing countries that would rely a lot on foreign assistance or where the might of the United States really matters. Those types of statements have a lot of clout and sway pro democracy activists around the world. Current and former diplomats say it is important a lot of ways.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Did the State Department itself respond to your reporting and request for comment?

[Pierre Bienname]

A State Department spokesperson said the United States will celebrate democratic values in the US and abroad, but would also seek partnerships with countries in pursuit of strategic interests regardless of their governance style.

[Alex Osola]

That was national security reporter Robbie Grammer speaking to my colleague Pierre Biennale. And finally, the European Union has agreed to impose its toughest sanctions on Russia since its large scale invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions package blocks attempts to revive the Nord Stream gas pipelines, lowers a price cap for Russian oil sales and hits banks from third countries, which could exacerbate tensions with China. The move comes as President Trump has started increasing pressure on the Kremlin. After months of seeking a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, European capitals hope Washington will soon join them in tightening economic pressure on Moscow. And that's what's news for this week. Tomorrow you can look out for our weekly markets wrap up what's News in Markets? Then on Sunday, we're bringing you an episode of WSJ's take on the Week, in which co hosts Gunjan Banerjee and Helis Demos speak with Chicago Fed chair Austan Goolsbee. Their conversation was recorded before the Fed entered its dark period when they don't speak to media ahead of their meeting next week to decide on interest rates. That's in what's New Sunday. And we'll be back with our regular show on Monday morning. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname with supervising producer Michael Cosmides. Michael Lavalle wrote our theme music. Aisha Al Muslim is our development producer. Scott Salloway and Chris Zinsley are our deputy editors. And Falana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of news audio. I'm Alex Osola. Thanks for listening. Sam.