Melania's Epstein Denial Puts a Trump Ally In the Spotlight
Plus: Vance heads to "make-or-break" talks. Assault allegations rock California governor's race. The Pentagon vs the Vatican. And Artemis II, home at last.
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There has been a year of news this week. But the story that has held our attention — and apparently yours — is Artemis II.
Online the comments have been joyful. The social engagement has been off the charts. And we can’t stop reading about it either. There’s something about four astronauts hurtling to the Moon that cuts through the noise in a way that a tariff announcement simply cannot.
Here’s our theory on why: We are starved for evidence that humans can still do big important things together. The Artemis crew speaks with seriousness and dignity — about science, about service, about values that have felt increasingly theoretical lately. They are the best of us. And in a moment when escaping this planet has crossed more than a few minds, watching actual people attempt something close to it hits different.
Splashdown happened at 8:07pm EDT. NASA called it “perfect.”
In today’s newsletter: Trump says Iran has no leverage. Drivers beg to differ. JD Vance heads to Iran talks, warns Tehran not to “play us.” Pope Leo issues his sharpest rejection yet of “Holy War” politics. What — or who — drove Melania Trump’s unexpected Epstein statement? A bombshell sexual assault report upends the California governor’s race. The latest economic snapshot. The CDC hid a report about Covid vaccines. Guess what it found? And Artemis II is home at last.
Breaking News
Bombshell Allegations: Four women have accused Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) of sexual misconduct and one of them, a former staffer, alleges rape. In an exclusive CNN report the former staffer alleges Swalwell sexually assaulted her while she was drunk, twice. The other women say Swallwell sent them unsolicited sexual images and touched them inappropriately without consent. Rep. Swalwell, who is running for California governor, forcefully denies the charges. He told CNN, “These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the front-runner for governor.… I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action.” He has reportedly served some of the women with cease and desist letters. Multiple labor unions and officials who backed his gubernatorial campaign have withdrawn their support. Some, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) have called for him to bow out of the race. You can read more here.
Poor Fit: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MA) has requested the White House physician “conduct a comprehensive cognitive assessment” of Trump. Raskin cited the fact that Trump’s public statements have become “increasingly incoherent, volatile, profane, deranged, and threatening.” He also noted that senior Republican lawmakers made much of former President Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities, including subpoenaing the White House physician and declaring a president who isn’t cognitively fit “isn’t fit for office.” The White House insisted that Trump’s “sharpness” and “unmatched energy … stand in stark contrast to what we saw during the past four years.”
Iran Updates
Make or Break: US negotiators, led by Vice President JD Vance, flew to Pakistan, where they will hold direct peace talks with Iranian counterparts Saturday. A former Pentagon official told News Not Noise this marks the start of the “most dangerous period of time” since the war began. Pakistan’s prime minister on Friday called the talks a “make-or-break moment.” Each side maintains seemingly irreconcilable positions. Iran’s speaker of parliament and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, insists that two preconditions “must be fulfilled before negotiations begin: There must be a ceasefire in Lebanon, and the US must release blocked Iranian assets.” That’s not promising because it’s unlikely both those terms will be met. Trump said Iran must no longer enrich uranium. Iran argues it has a right to do so. Trump on Thursday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and said they “better stop” extracting tolls from tankers passing through. Iran wants to maintain control of the Strait, including charging tolls in crypto. Neither side has shown much, if any, willingness to back down from these mutually exclusive demands.
Tough Talk: On Saturday JD Vance will become the highest ranking US official to hold direct talks with Iran in over a decade. On Friday, he warned Iran not to “try and play us,” explaining that Trump gave the US team “some pretty clear guidelines,” but didn’t elaborate. Trump on Friday continued his posturing, insisting Iran has “no cards, other than a short term extortion of the world” by throttling traffic in the Strait. He warned that the US is treating this break as a “reset,” is “loading up the ships with … the best weapons ever made,” and is prepared to resume attacks,
Iran’s Cards: US gas prices increased 21.2% in March, the largest monthly increase since 1967. Average gas prices are up more than a dollar per gallon since the war began.
Lebanon Talks: The office of Lebanon’s president confirmed to CNN that Lebanon and Israel agreed to begin peace negotiations at the US State Department next week. Leaders of the two nations spoke by phone today. This is despite US and Israeli insistence that Lebanon was never part of the ceasefire deal. (This sure suggests Iran has some leverage.) Hezbollah’s chief says it will keep fighting regardless of any agreement. Israel and Hezbollah on Friday continued to trade strikes. Israel’s massive, surprise strikes on Lebanon this week, launched after the ceasefire with Iran was announced, killed hundreds. The death toll in Lebanon is now close to 2,000 people. Trump on Thursday said Netanyahu agreed to “low-key it.… We have to be sort of a little more low-key.”
Timing: Netanyahu on Friday requested he be allowed to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial. The ceasefire with Iran and subsequent lifting of Israel’s state of emergency meant the trial would resume on Sunday.
Holy War: Pope Leo on Friday issued his latest and most explicit rebuke of war — and the Trump administration’s repeated invocations of God to justify its war with Iran. “God does not bless any conflict,” the Pope wrote.
Unprecedented: According to the Free Press, the Pentagon summoned a Vatican envoy — something that does not normally happen — and reportedly threatened him over the Pope’s opposition to the war in Iran and Trump administration policy. The outlet reports that in the January 22 meeting, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby allegedly told the Pope’s envoy that “the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.” An official at the meeting allegedly invoked the Avignon Papacy, when the French monarchy orchestrated the death of the Pope and brought the Papacy under its control. The Pentagon denied all this, calling the meeting “respectful and reasonable.” And the Vatican reportedly said the meeting was “frank but very cordial.” The Pope later declined an invitation to come to the US for America’s 250th anniversary celebration.
Cost Lives: Survivors of Iran’s deadliest attack on US forces during the war have publicly disputed the Pentagon’s account. US troops who spoke to CBS News said that they were moved from a major base in Kuwait to a smaller and “older” military outpost that was “closer to Iran” and in “a deeply unsafe area that was a known target.” The base’s protections were “about as weak as one gets” with essentially no anti-drone defense capabilities. Shortly before the attack, an all-clear sounded, and troops returned to work — in “a bunch of little tin buildings,” which were destroyed when Iran’s drone struck. “It’s something like what you see in the movies,” one survivor said. “Head wounds, heavy bleeding … shrapnel all over.” Six US service members died and more than 20 were injured, making this the deadliest attack on US troops in years. “One of the hardest things for me,” one survivor said, “is that I know we didn’t get everybody out … there are still soldiers inside there that still haven’t been identified and evacuated.” “I want people to know,” one injured troop said, “the unit … was unprepared to provide any defense for itself.”
Here Are Your Other Headlines
Strange Timing: Melania Trump on Thursday made an unexpected public statement in which she insisted she is not one of “Epstein’s victims” and denied knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. This is the first time she’s publicly addressed the issue; her choice to do so now sparked widespread confusion and speculation. President Trump on Friday said he was unaware of what his wife planned to say, but he said she “had a right to talk about it.” In the statement, the First Lady insisted she “never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, [Ghislaine] Maxwell.” The photo of the Trumps with Epstein and Maxwell? “Overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach,” Melania explained. What about the email Melania sent Maxwell, in which she praises a “nice story” of Epstein published in New York Magazine and asks Maxwell to “give me a call,” or Maxwell’s later email calling Melania her “Sweet Pea?” Nothing more than “casual correspondence,” Melania claimed. “A trivial note.” (In that NY Mag story, Donald Trump calls Epstein a “terrific guy” who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”) Melania also called for a “public hearing specifically centered around the survivors” of Epstein’s abuse. Lawmakers from both parties backed Melania’s call for a hearing. But at least 15 survivors slammed Melania’s comments, arguing they are “shifting the burden onto survivors” from those in power, including Pam Bondi and the DOJ, which they claim “has still not fully complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.” Multiple Democrats called on Melania to testify. “She has relevant information,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said. “If she didn’t … how could she say that Epstein was not acting alone?”
Meet Cute: Wondering what prompted that statement? Attention is now on Paolo Zampolli, a longtime business associate of Trump and a former modelling agent who once discussed buying an agency with… Jeffrey Epstein. Zampolli is currently the administration’s special envoy for global partnerships and previously ran the modeling agency that represented a young Melania Knauss. Zampolli has long insisted that he, and not Epstein, introduced Melania to Donald Trump. Following Melania’s statement, Zampolli signaled he’s prepared to testify under oath that he introduced the first couple. Zampolli’s name appears in the Epstein files multiple times; when asked about that, he said, “At least I was included, because if you’re not on the list, you’re a loser, right?” Here’s the more combustible part of the story. Zampolli’s ex wife and the mother of his child, Amanda Ungaro, was arrested in June 2025, allegedly for being involved in an unlicensed cosmetic surgery business. Ungaro was apparently a model who flew on Epstein’s jet as a teenager, and while married to Zampolli frequently socialized with the Trumps. But that marriage reportedly broke down into a fierce custody battle. According to a New York Times report, after Ungaro was arrested, Zampolli reached out to senior DHS officials; Ungaro claims he used his influence to orchestrate her deportation. He denies this and told the Times he reached out to ICE leadership merely to ask “what was going on.” Ungaro was deported to Brazil. In a series of now-deleted tweets, an account with the name Amanda Ungaro warned Melania to be “afraid of what I know” and threatened to reveal damaging details about the President.
Doomer Data: A slew of new economic data is out, most of it dismal. Monthly inflation rose threefold in March and annual inflation rose to its highest rate in almost two years. A preliminary estimate of consumer sentiment puts it at 47.6%, which would be the lowest reading on record; it declined across all ages, income brackets, and political affiliations. Americans are less optimistic about finding a job than in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. GDP growth in the final quarter of 2025 was revised downwards. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost food assistance.
Draft Idea: The government is preparing to begin automatically registering young men — including undocumented immigrants — for the draft in December. Currently, almost all men aged 18-25 must register with the Select Service System, the agency that oversees the database of potential draftees. It’s separate from the Department of Defense. That process is already automatic in dozens of states and US territories, but will now become automatic nationwide thanks to the Defense Authorization Act, which was passed last year with bipartisan support. A government official said the shift has been “in the works for quite a while” and mentioned the Trump administration’s “obsession” with creating federal databases. The government is also worried about declining numbers of eligible men registering. This doesn’t mean the draft is actually coming back. However, when asked in March about the prospect of an active draft, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is keeping his “options on the table.” Trump in 2024 wrote that a vote for Kamala Harris would be a vote for “BRINGING BACK THE DRAFT” while a vote for him would be a vote for “PROSPERITY & PEACE.”
The Vance Touch: Vice President JD Vance spent the first half of this week attempting to save Hungary’s authoritarian President Viktor Orban, a Trump ally, from what seems like an imminent election defeat. At a pro-Orban rally on Tuesday, Vance accused the EU of interfering in Hungary’s elections and urged Hungarians to vote for Orban. But first, he tried to call President Trump. “Let’s hope he actually answers,” Vance said, “or this is gonna be very embarrassing.” The call went to voicemail. Vance tried again and Trump actually picked up, heaping praise on Orban — whose 16-years in office have left Hungary the most corrupt and least free country in the European Union. Orban is expected to lose Sunday’s election. According to CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, after Vance’s visit the public odds of Orban winning “might have gone down slightly.” Enten also noted that Vance’s own popularity has sunk to record levels, making him “the least popular vice president” among modern VPs “at this point in their vice presidencies.” Vance now heads to Pakistan to try and strike a peace deal with Iran.
Myth Made Reality: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday called top banking executives into a last-minute, urgent meeting to warn them about the danger of new AI models. The meeting was prompted by Anthropic’s new version of Claude, Mythos. Anthropic has decided not to release the model to anyone outside a select group of companies because it’s apparently too powerful to risk falling into the wrong hands. Bessent and Powell reportedly warned the execs about the cyber risks of such models and urged them to take precautions to defend their systems.
No Shot: The CDC’s acting director, Jay Bhattacharya, delayed the publication of a report that found the Covid vaccine is effective. The research found that between September and December 2025, healthy adults who were vaccinated were about half as likely to be hospitalized or visit the emergency room. Bhattacharya reportedly held the report due to concerns about its methodology. But the methodology in question is commonly used, including by a different CDC report that was published in March. A former senior adviser on vaccine policy to the CDC called the move “extremely concerning,” warning it is “an escalation of this administration’s undermining of CDC science.”
News That Doesn’t Suck
Home At Last: Millions of people watched Artemis II crew return to Earth Friday evening, concluding their historic trip around the Moon. The team overcame technical difficulties and toilet troubles to set several records, see things no human has seen before, and send home some truly stunning pictures. But the hardest — and most dangerous — part came last. The crew spent the day orbiting Earth, making sure everything was working and packing things up to prepare. That included turning off that troublesome toilet. A little before 8pm EDT, the team began what NASA called a “textbook reentry.” The spacecraft made contact with the Earth’s atmosphere at almost 24,000 miles per hour, challenging the record for fastest speed achieved by humans, set in 1969 by the crew of Apollo 10. At that blistering speed, the four astronauts had to brace against almost 4Gs of force. That’s sort of like feeling four times as heavy as normal. The spacecraft was expected to set off a sonic boom that could be heard and felt throughout southern California. (The US Geological Survey is asking people to report if they heard it here.) The crew module’s heat shield was expected to heat up to 5,000ºF. NASA has admitted that the shield isn’t perfect; it’s the same model as that used for the unmanned Artemis I mission, which lost far more material than expected during reentry. But the agency and Artemis II team were confident their shield will hold up — and they were right. At those intense temperatures, plasma formed, forcing a planned communications blackout. After speeds dropped somewhat, drogue parachutes deployed, then main parachutes, each one measuring 11,000 square feet. They slowed the module down for what NASA called a “perfect bullseye splashdown” off the coast of southern California, southwest of San Diego. The module landed upright. A US Navy ship and helicopters, two with cameras and two for rescue, were there to retrieve the crew and bring them home.
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Thank you for your continued reporting! The speed at which everything is happening feels impossible to keep up with. I so appreciate you as a trusted and reliable source. Hope you’re finding ways to take care of yourself.
Excellent reporting. Thank you!