Trump signs bill to release Jeffrey Epstein files after Congress vote

President Donald Trump kicked off the weekly meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and closed the weekly meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

He also signed a law ordering the Justice Department to release records related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Here’s a look at what happened this week.

Epstein Files

Trump announced Wednesday evening that he had approved a bill ordering the Justice Department to release records related to Epstein — after Congress passed the measure on Tuesday.

Trump says if he would sign EPSTEIN records bill

“I just signed the bill to release the EPSTEIN files!” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on the Truth Social platform. “As everyone knows, I have asked House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to pass this bill in the House and Senate, respectively. As a result of this request, the votes were almost unanimous in favor of passing it.

“Under my leadership, the Justice Department has already turned over nearly fifty thousand pages of documents to Congress. Remember: the Biden administration has not turned over a SINGLE file or page related to Democrat Epstein, and has never even spoken about him.”

Trump’s ties to Epstein received increased attention after the Justice Department and Trump’s FBI announced in July that they would not unseal investigative documents related to Epstein and that the agencies’ investigation into the matter was closed.

Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump pose together at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 22, 1997. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

TRUMP CALLS ON HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO VOTE FOR RELEASE OF EPSTEIN FILES: ‘WE HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE’

However, Trump announced on November 16 that he supported the release of the documents, saying he had “nothing to hide.”

Ultimately, the House voted Tuesday to release the records by a 421-1 margin, following months of pressure from the measure’s leaders, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and other Democrats.

The Senate passed the measure unanimously on Tuesday.

BIDEN’S SAUDI FIST BUMP CAUSED HEAT IN 2022 – TRUMP JUST ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET

Mamdani meeting

Mamdani visited Trump at the White House on Friday, and the two appeared friendly and ready to launch a new start in their relationship. The two said they discussed solving affordability issues and improving conditions in New York.

Trump said the two had more in common than he expected and that he would “cheer on” Mamdani as he led the city.

“I expect to help him, not hurt him, which will be a big help,” Trump said.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump take questions from the press following their one-on-one meeting Friday in the Oval Office of the White House. (Pool/Fox News)

EPSTEIN REFERRED TRUMP IN PRIVATE EMAILS TO GHISLAINE MAXWELL AND OTHERS, NEW RECORDS SHOW

Trump also brushed off Mamdani’s comment calling him a despot in his victory speech after the Nov. 4 election, with the president saying Friday that he had encountered worse and that he believed Mamdani would change his mind as the two worked together.

“I’ve been called a lot worse than a ‘despot,’ so it’s not that insulting,” Trump said. “I think he’ll change his mind once we start working together.”

Saudi Crown Prince Meeting

Trump also met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday, an occasion that included a red carpet rolled out on the South Lawn, a military honor guard and an Air Force flyover to enhance the official state-level welcome.

During bin Salman’s visit, the United States announced that it would sell F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia and would now become a “major non-NATO ally” to facilitate military cooperation between the two countries.

“President Trump approved a major military sales program, including future F-35 deliveries, that strengthens the U.S. defense industrial base and ensures that Saudi Arabia continues to purchase American products,” the White House said in a statement.

Trump’s reception of Bin Salman constitutes a break with the Biden administration, which declared in 2019 during his presidential campaign that he would make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are” due to the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

President Donald Trump’s reception of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman marks a break with the Biden administration. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

US intelligence agencies concluded in 2021 that Bin Salman gave the green light to the operation that cost Khashoggi his life. Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, was brutally murdered in Istanbul at the Saudi consulate in 2018.

But Trump defended bin Salman on Tuesday and accused a reporter who asked about U.S. intelligence reports linking the prince to Khashoggi’s death of embarrassing bin Salman.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“A lot of people didn’t like this gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said Tuesday. “Whether you like him or not, things happen, but he didn’t know about it. And would you leave it at that? You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.”

Even so, bin Salman has dismissed the reports as false. Asked about Khashoggi on Tuesday, bin Salman said it was “painful” to learn of someone’s death without a “real purpose” and that “we are doing our best to ensure that this does not happen again.”