Trump floods the media – but can't make the Epstein scandal go away

White House news blitz comes as Ghislaine Maxwell is transferred to 'Club Fed' minimum security prison

- Hugh Tomlinson Washington & James Tapper

For almost a month, the Trump administration has tried desperately to move on from the rumours linking the president to Jeffrey Epstein.

Piecemeal attempts to change the subject, including a call to prosecute Barack Obama over an alleged conspiracy in the 2016 Russiagate affair, have failed to quell the chatter around the Epstein files and Trump's ties to the late financier and sex offender.

In the space of 48 hours, however, Trump unleashed a barrage of news that has upended global markets, provoked uproar among political opponents and raised the spectre of a nuclear standoff with Russia. Temporarily at least, the Epstein scandal has been pushed to one side.

On Thursday, Trump unveiled plans to build a $200m ballroom on the White House grounds continuing the president's project to recreate the atmosphere of his Mara-Lago club in the heart of Washington. That evening he announced sweeping new tariffs on dozens of US partners.

Panic on international markets was compounded by a gloomy jobs report on Friday that raised fresh concerns about the state of the US economy. Trump responded by sacking the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, claiming she had "rigged" the employment numbers to smear his economic record.

To cap it all, heading into the weekend, Trump revived the shadow of the cold war, announcing that he had "ordered two nuclear submarines" to "the appropriate regions" in response to threats from Moscow.

Whether by coincidence or design, the news blitz from the White House came just as Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, was quietly moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.