Here’s everything you know about what happened last night. And buckle up, things have been moving fast

Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein in 1992. They reportedly fell out before his arrest(Image: Internet Unknown)

What is going on with my ‘guys’ and in some cases ‘gals’?

Yeesh. We knew something was in the air.

Trump’s language about the Epstein row changed. He started going after his own supporters. The White House admitted there was something wrong with his legs.

But even though everyone knew something was coming, nobody was prepared for the ick of Trump’s alleged birthday card to Epstein. Or for it to be delivered by the Wall Street Journal – the favourite newspaper of Trump’s favourite newspaper owner, Rupert Murdoch.

Here’s everything you know about what happened last night. And buckle up, things have been moving fast.

1. Donald Trump gets whacked by Murdoch – and he threatens to sue

Last night, the Wall Street Journal published what it says is a letter sent by Donald Trump to dead paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to mark his 50th Birthday in 2003 – three years before he was first arrested.

Trump denies having sent the letter, and claims it is fake.

The alleged letter is deeply weird, and takes the form of a third person script of an opaque conversation between the two men:

Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything.

Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.

Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.

Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.

Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?

Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.

Trump: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.

It was, the Journal claims, typewritten and also featured a drawing of a naked woman in heavy marker. Trump’s signature, Donald, appears…below the waist, it’s said.

Trump responded angrily, denying everything.

“This is not me. This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story,” he told the WSJ.

“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”

He later wrote on Truth Social: “Mr Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but obviously did not have the power to do so. Instead they are going with a false, malicious, defamatory story anyway. President Trump will be suing the Wall Street Journal, News Corp and Mr Murdoch shortly.”

Trump and Epstein knew each other for a long time in the 90s and early 00s, but are said to have fallen out before his first arrest.

Trump posted this morning on Truth Social: “I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his “pile of garbage” newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!”

2. ‘Not my language’

Trump’s claim that it’s “not my language” is being picked apart on social media.

And yes the language in the letter is odd and stilted – but he has used the word “enigma” before – during a speech in Fort Dodge, Iowa, referring to his former Housing Secretary Ben Carson.

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3. ‘I never wrote a picture in my life’

Similarly, people picked apart the claim that he never draws pictures.

In fact, he does – and has often doodled the New York skyline – in thick marker pen. He used to do one every year to donate to a food charity in NYC.

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4. Trump changed his tone

A couple of days ago, we noted there had been a change in how Trump was talking about Epstein.

It went from more of a “nothing left to see, let’s all move on” vibe, to a “whatever there is has been faked by Obama” vibe.

Turns out that change in tone coincided with the Wall Street Journal putting in their call to Trump about the letter.

5. Trump orders grand jury testimony released

Just before the WSJ dropped their bombshell, Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to release evidence and materials given to the grand jury investigating Epstein, which are still under seal.

Bondi responded, saying she’d do so today. It’s still early in New York. Let’s see what happens.

6. They were so bothered about the Epstein letter that they actually admitted Trump was sick

At the press briefing yesterday evening, Karoline Leavitt made the rarest of admissions – Trump has a medical issue.

She said tests have revealed the President has “revealed chronic venous insufficiency”. She said it is “a benign and common condition” and that Mr Trump is in “excellent health”.

Ms Leavitt also addressed bruising which had been noticed on Mr Trump’s hands, which she said was due to “minor soft tissue irritation from frequent hand-shaking and the use of aspirin”.

She said: “I know that many in the media have been speculating about bruising on the president’s hand and also swelling in the president’s legs. In the effort of transparency, the President wanted me to share a note from his physician with all of you today.

“In recent weeks, President Trump noted mild swelling in his lower legs, in keeping with routine medical care, and out of an abundance of caution, this concern was thoroughly evaluated by the White House medical unit.”

Ms Leavitt said the President underwent a “comprehensive examination”, including diagnostic vascular studies and ultrasounds. She said the tests “revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70”.

She said: “Importantly, there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease.” She listed several tests Mr Trump had had, adding: “All results were within normal limits.”

While it is often a benign condition, it can also be a marker for heart disease.

7. Team Trump were ‘on the f***ing warpath’ trying to kill the story

According to Rolling Stone, a Trump White House official said his team were “on the f***ing warpath”, mounting a pressure campaign against the WSJ, trying to kill the story in the days before it was published.

Trump is said to have told aides it was a “top priority”.

8. Donald Trump’s approval rating is what now?

House Speaker Mike Johnson made a particularly outlandish claim on CNBC this morning – claiming a CNN poll had him at 90% approval, despite being the “most maligned and attacked political figure in the history of American politics.”

He said Trump’s approval ratings were “skyrocketing…there’s never been a president that high.”

The CNBC anchor didn’t challenge this obvious nonsense, so here goes.

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What actually happened was CNN’s excitable data nerd, Harry Enten, noted the president’s approval rating had indeed reached 88% in their poll, and 90% in Quinnipac University’s poll – when you only ask Republicans.

The same CNN poll put him on 42% approve, 58% disapprove.

And when you break that polling down into strongly or moderately, only 21% approved strongly of his performance – while an eye-watering 45% disapprove strongly.

So either Mike Lee didn’t watch the segment very closely, or he is flat out lying here.

I mean there’s one other option, which is that he doesn’t consider non-Republicans to be human beings. But we’re going to give him the benefit of the doubt on that one for now.

For the record, Trump’s current poll average makes him the second most unpopular president at this point in a term. The least popular is himself, eight years ago.

READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster

9. America’s biggest talk show was mysteriously cancelled

It emerged last night that CBS had cancelled the Late Show.

Host Stephen Colbert announced last night that the show would end a 33 year run next May.

It was America’s top rated late-night talk show (and genuinely a good watch).

“Let me tell you, it is a fantastic job,” Colbert said at the top of last night’s episode. “I wish someone else was getting it.”

And why are we including this in the Trump roundup?

Because a few days ago, Colbert had a big old pop at CBS’ parent company, Paramount during his monologue – taking aim at them for settling a fatuous, meritless lawsuit with Trump over his claim CBS News selectively edited a Kamala Harris interview to help her in the election.

(They didn’t, and she lost anyway).

The lawsuit threatened to hold up approval for Paramount’s merger with Skydance, worth $8.4 billion.

In Tuesday’s monologue, Colbert called the £12m settlement a “big fat bribe.”

“Paramount knows they could have fought it”, he said, because the company itself had called the lawsuit “completely without merit”.

“And keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beast — they know completely without merit.”

And was Trump delighted? Oh you know he was.

He posted on Truth Social: “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”

For the record, Greg Gutfeld is not better than Jimmy Kimmel, let alone Stephen Colbert.

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