Trump’s ‘week of wins’ dented by Epstein storm, health concerns
The US president’s efforts to control the narrative falter, overshadowing policy triumphs, ahead of his UK trip
For US President Donald Trump, whose political career has benefited from voter anxiety over Washington elites, the health of his predecessor and the riches of Wall Street, the past week offered a reversal of fortune.
Trump’s efforts to escape the uproar over Jeffrey Epstein failed spectacularly, after The Wall Street Journal published a story alleging he once sent a suggestive birthday letter to the disgraced financier – a claim the president denied.
The White House was forced to make a rare disclosure that Trump was not in perfect health. And Trump whipsawed on the fate of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, signalling to lawmakers that he would attempt to fire him before relenting after concerns about a market backlash.
Now, as Trump gears up for a high-profile trip to the UK next week to finalise a trade deal with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he finds himself looking slightly vulnerable.
There was much Trump hoped to harness in what he called a “week of wins” – passage of his flagship tax-cut package earlier this month, approval of spending cuts this week, a run of favourable economic data, the signing of a stablecoin bill, and implementation of his aggressive tariff agenda.
Instead, there were suddenly a few punctures in the armour of a president who at times in his second term has seemed irrepressible as he bent rival institutions and political opponents to his will.