Furious Trump dodges questions as Republicans prepare to vote on files

After dodging reporters' questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein for two days last week, Donald Trump broke cover on Friday to address the latest revelations in the scandal that has plagued his second presidency.

- Hugh Tomlinson

Trump's name appears hundreds of times in the latest cache of emails sent by the late paedophile financier. Demanding a new investigation by the justice department into Epstein's links to America's ruling elite, the president targeted only the prominent Democrats named in the files.

Within hours, attorney general Pam Bondi had named a chief prosecutor to lead the investigation into former president Bill Clinton, former Treasury secretary Larry Summers and venture capitalist and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman. Only months after declaring it dead when it emerged that Trump was named in the files, Bondi vowed to "pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people".

Trump's bid to deflect attention from himself followed a bruising week that underscored the desperation inside the White House to quash the speculation around his ties to America's most notorious sex offender. A mass rebellion brewing among Republican members before a House vote on the Epstein files last week has highlighted Trump's faltering grip on his party and Maga base.