5 Stories You (Probably) Missed During the Epstein Circus

Trump's Epstein betrayal has taken center stage, but it's not the only important development.

The Trump administration’s fumbling of the Jeffrey Epstein files has understandably dominated the news cycle for the past week. The president dashed the hopes of some of his most committed supporters who believed he would finally expose and punish the world’s most powerful and perverted predators. Instead, his administration has declared there’s ‘nothing to see here’ as he insults much of his base for taking issue with the about-face. As important and multi-faceted as this ongoing Epstein saga may be, it has drawn attention away from other pressing stories that have real-world consequences.

1. This week, the Pentagon awarded contracts worth up to $200 million each to four Big Tech firms in yet another push to incorporate artificial intelligence into the military. Google, OpenAI (Sam Altman’s venture), xAI (Elon Musk’s AI venture), and Anthropic are cashing in on the Department of Defense’s efforts to use “advanced AI” in the “warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems,” according to Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty. Google has previously drawn harsh criticism for its work with the Pentagon, but that has ultimately failed to deter the tech giant from seeking further military business. Musk is also no stranger to federal contracting. His companies work with both military and intelligence agencies.
   
   The new contracts follow the DoD’s recent commissioning of four Big Tech executives as lieutenant colonels in the US Army, yet another move reflecting the encroaching merger of technocrats and authoritarians (the executives have thus far failed to recuse themselves from business dealings with the military). Similarly, the Big Beautiful Bill paves the way for further technological control in the name of border security.
   

2. A new report released this week suggests that despite the administration’s bravado about last month’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, only one of three sites was destroyed. The other two, according to the report, could resume operations within months should the Iranian regime decide to pursue nuclear weapons. This report is in contrast to a CIA assessment, which claimed the strikes were a resounding success that destroyed Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities for years to come. As with many military adventures overseas, the truth is undoubtedly obscured by rhetoric and bluster, but one thing is clear: it’s highly unlikely that Trump’s strikes on Iran will be the final conclusion of the decades-long push for conflict.
   

3. Many celebrated Trump’s January executive order that purportedly banned central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which have raised alarm bells over privacy concerns and the further centralization of the financial system. The same order’s call to elevate stablecoins, a category of cryptocurrencies generally linked to the US dollar, flew largely under the radar. This week, however, the House passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act), which proponents have hailed as a pro-cryptocurrency bill. Passed by the Senate in June, the act establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a move that will likely make them more mainstream. JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said the bank plans to adopt stablecoins, and other financial giants have expressed similar interest.
   
   While the Federal Reserve may not be directly issuing CBDCs (and legislation banning this without congressional approval has passed the House), the elevation of stablecoins may ultimately have the same effects as CBDCs: centralization, surveillance, and the reinforcement of the current power structures. For example, the bill establishes conditions, per the Bank Secrecy Act, that could require stablecoin issuers to “block, freeze, and reject specific or impermissible transactions that violate Federal or State laws, rules, or regulations.” The bill also imposes surveillance requirements for stablecoin issuers, like “monitoring and reporting of any suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation.” Unsurprisingly, the GENIUS Act passed both houses of Congress with bipartisan support despite some opposition from members of both parties.
   

4. Trump has criticized endless wars overseas and promised to end them, but a new analysis released this week from Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), an international nonprofit, contradicts his rhetoric. The new report claims the current administration has launched nearly as many air strikes in six months as the Biden administration did in four years. Since taking office, Trump’s military has reportedly waged 529 strikes compared to 555 during Biden’s entire term. While a common knee-jerk justification for this escalation claims Trump is taking out terrorists, it’s hard to believe continuing the same strategy that has failed to squash terrorism for over 20 years is a winning one, especially in light of the immense toll on civilians.
   

5. In yet another betrayal of much of the MAGA base (MAHA, specifically, in this case), the Trump administration is reportedly following in the footsteps of a Biden administration effort: They will appeal a 2024 federal court decision on water fluoridation. That decision ordered the EPA to take regulatory action to address the potential health risks of fluoridating drinking water, a practice that began decades ago in the name of improving dental health. Concerns about the negative health effects of fluoride are not new, nor is research suggesting water fluoridation may adversely affect children’s neurodevelopment (critics of findings like these question the quality of research that shows fluoridation poses risks).
   
   However, the scientific conflict is not at the core of why this week’s development matters. It is most significant because the EPA’s apparent effort to appeal the previous court decision directly contradicts Trump’s previous statement of tentative approval around the prospect of RFK Jr. removing fluoride from drinking water (for his part, the Health and Human Services director appears to have attempted to move this goal forward). Whatever your assessment of the risks or benefits of fluoride, the backtrack is yet another instance of Trump’s willingness to break promises to his base.

Not all the news has been grim. If nothing else, Trump’s decision to abandon his base over Epstein has led many to question their once unflinching support for him. Further, the developments noted in this article provide further evidence that Trump is not the anti-establishment freedom fighter he and his team made him out to be.

As I wrote last week, this can be a painful experience. But it’s also an essential one in the conscious evolution away from subservience to corrupt and coercive power structures. As the regime continues to paint its technocratic, authoritarian reign as a resounding success that’s ushering in America’s golden age of freedom, prosperity, and transparency, it remains essential to shine light on the many policies and actions that disprove this narrative.