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It’s Thursday, November 13. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Why is Amtrak so darn slow? How our top scientific journal abandoned its truth-seeking mission. The era of “based capitalism.” And much more.
But first: Why Jeffrey Epstein will continue to haunt Donald Trump.
If Donald Trump thought the Jeffrey Epstein scandal was over, Wednesday’s news suggested otherwise. Democrats in the House released several emails in which the deceased disgraced New York financier and convicted sex offender mentioned President Donald Trump. In one email, Epstein claimed Trump once “spent hours at my house” with a woman who later accused Epstein of sexually abusing and trafficking her.
In the coming weeks, the House will vote on whether to force the Department of Justice to release its files on Epstein. And that vote will be a critical test of President Donald Trump’s political strength, writes Eli Lake, and show whether he is losing his grip on the Republican Party less than a year into his second term.
It’s no secret that Trump and Epstein were once friends; a quick Google search will show you videos of them dancing together at Mar-a-Lago. But Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking of minors. He’s repeatedly dismissed the Epstein issue as a Democratic smear campaign and opposes the Justice Department releasing the files. But parts of his base aren’t buying it, and some usually loyal members of the House say they’ll join with Democrats and demand their disclosure.
So will Trump stop the revolt—and what will it mean if he can’t? Read Eli’s piece and find out.
—Will Rahn
In her more than 30 years in scientific research, Anna Krylov viewed Nature Portfolio as the world’s leading scientific publisher. Now, Krylov is cutting ties with the group, refusing to review or publish papers with them. She says the publisher has abandoned their truth-seeking mission in favor of left-wing politics. Read Anna’s account of why she lost faith in Nature—and what it must do to win back its credibility.
Once every hour, Amtrak’s flagship Acela service links New York City to Washington, D.C.—a distance of 225 miles—in a little under three hours. Meanwhile in Japan, the Shinkansen line links the country’s two largest cities with 16 trains per hour at twice the speed. Why are our trains so bad—and what can we learn from Japan?
If you thought the decline of “woke capitalism” meant commerce and politics would no longer mix, think again. Instead, something else has taken its place. River Page calls it “based capitalism,” and it explains why Shane Gillis is in beer commercials, why tallow fries are on the menu and, yes, why Sydney Sweeney is talking about genes.
On Old School: Fareed Zakaria on The Great Gatsby’s 100th Anniversary
In the latest episode of Old School, Shilo Brooks sits down with Fareed Zakaria to explore why F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby still feels so modern a century after it was first published. Zakaria shares his experience discovering the classic as an Indian immigrant, describing Gatsby as his gateway to understanding America. Together, they unpack the book’s enduring themes: the allure of reinvention and the American dream, the search for meaning in a world stripped of faith and tradition, and the spiritual hollowness that accompanies wealth and glamour. Plus: Zakaria sounds off on what’s wrong with journalism—and its consumers—today.
You can watch Shilo’s conversation with Zakaria here, and listen to it here:
Live with Bernard-Henri Lévy: Sudan’s Crisis
Of all the wars raging across the world right now, Sudan’s is the deadliest—and the most ignored. More than 150,000 are dead. Twelve million have been displaced. Women have been raped in front of their daughters and sisters. Children are conscripted as soldiers. Mass graves line the streets of Khartoum.
Join Rafaela Siewert for a live conversation with Bernard-Henri Lévy at 10 a.m. Friday to discuss his latest reporting from the front lines of a conflict that has produced three times the casualties of Gaza—and barely a fraction of the attention.
Tune in here at 10, or watch it on our home page.
Almost 43 days later, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is over after the House of Representatives passed a government funding bill and President Trump signed it into law. The bill funds the government through January but does not include any of the Democrats’ healthcare demands, though Republicans promised a Senate vote next month on extending Obamacare subsidies. The shutdown cost an estimated $11 billion in permanently lost economic activity.
America’s Roman Catholic bishops sharply rebuked the Trump administration’s “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” in a statement, called a special message, at their annual conference yesterday. “We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants,” the statement read. The statement passed almost unanimously, with 216 bishops voting for and only five against.
Progressive activist Katie Wilson will likely be Seattle’s next mayor, unseating incumbent Bruce Harrell. Like New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Wilson is a self-avowed socialist who has proposed government-run grocery stores and a local capital gains tax, and has promised to “Trump-proof” Seattle.
Federal officials arrested Dana Williamson, California governor Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, on charges of bank and wire fraud. The public corruption probe targeted Williamson and several others in their alleged connection to the fraudulent use of funds in a dormant political campaign account.
The BBC needs to “get their house in order,” said British prime minister Keir Starmer, after President Trump threatened to sue the broadcaster over the deceptive editing of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech ahead of the riot at the Capitol. The publicly funded agency is prepared to apologize to Trump to help resolve Trump’s $1 billion legal threat, The Guardian reported. (Read Melanie Phillips’ essay: ‘Defund the BBC’)
Trump urged Israeli president Isaac Herzog to pardon prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption trial, calling the case “political, unjustified prosecution.” Netanyahu was first indicted in 2019, facing charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases, but the cases have been repeatedly delayed since the war in Gaza began.
The U.S. will soon reduce tariffs on coffee, bananas, and other foods, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Fox News. He also said “the American people are going to start feeling better” about affordability by mid-2026, and that “substantial” tax refunds will be distributed.
The U.S. Mint pressed its final pennies in Philadelphia yesterday. In February, Trump ordered the 1-cent coin’s death, citing its rising production cost of nearly four cents today. Some stores are rounding the change they give to the nearest nickel, while one northeastern grocery chain is letting customers trade in their pennies for twice its value to address their penny shortage.
What I find a little amusing is that clearly Epstein/Michael Wolff had a real obsession with Trump, trying all manner of ways to "get Trump" and "shift the guilt"... that Democrats simply embraced (with as little success so far as as Epstein had until he simply gave up).
Why Trump’s Epstein Problem Won’t Go Away? (for a little while / until next "scandal")
Democrats' and Media desperation, clinging at straws and search for relevance to avoid being scrutinised themselves ... maybe?