The Latest: Justice Department faces deadline to release Epstein files

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The Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and wealthy financier known for his connections to some of the world’s most influential people, including President Donald Trump, who had tried to keep the files sealed. The records could contain the most detailed look yet at decades of investigations into Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women and underage girls.

Ahead of Trump’s Friday evening visit to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, some residents say they can't escape an economic squeeze. Trump is visiting presidential battleground states to champion his economic policies ahead of next year's consequential midterm elections.

And Trump’s “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast is raising new questions about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America, while fueling concerns that the U.S. could be edging closer to war.

The Latest:

A simmering battle over the future of Trump’s political movement exploded on one of the right’s biggest stages as prominent conservative influencers used Turning Point USA’s annual youth conference to attack each other and their competing visions.

The feuding threatened to eclipse efforts to memorialize Charlie Kirk, the charismatic Turning Point founder who was assassinated in September.

First up Thursday night was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Shapiro sharply criticized the former Fox News host for interviewing outspoken antisemite Nick Fuentes on his podcast, calling it “an act of moral imbecility.”

Barely an hour later, Carlson took the same stage and mocked Shapiro’s attempt to “deplatform and denounce” people who disagree with him: “I watched it,” he said. “I laughed.”

The U.S. Secretary of State plans to take reporters’ questions Friday in the State Department briefing room, with the main topics expected to surround Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas peace efforts, and the Trump administration’s increasing military pressure on Venezuela.

Rubio’s year-end appearance comes amid key meetings on Gaza and Russia-Ukraine in Miami on Friday and Saturday after a tumultuous year in U.S. foreign policy.

Rubio has also assumed the role of national security adviser and emerged as a staunch defender of Trump’s “America First” priorities on issues including visa revocations and restrictions, deportations, a radical overhaul in foreign assistance and a shakeup of the State Department bureaucracy.

Trump has directed his administration to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. However, the executive order does not legalize marijuana under federal law, and it’s not the final word. The proposed change still requires federal regulatory approval.

But the change could make the marijuana industry more profitable, facilitate new research on medicinal uses and nudge federal policy closer to a more tolerant approach already in place in many states.

Possessing marijuana is a federal crime punishable by fines and prison time. Selling or cultivating marijuana is a more serious offense, punishable by prison sentences of five years to life, depending on the quantity of the drug. That would not change.

Rather, Trump is proposing to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a less dangerous Schedule III substance. Changing marijuana to a Schedule III drug could save hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for businesses licensed to sell marijuana in states where it is legal, said Rachel Gillette, a Denver attorney who leads the firm’s cannabis industry practice.

▶ Read more about the proposed reclassification

Health care is a growing concern for Americans, according to a new AP-NORC poll that asked people to share their top priorities for the government to address in 2026.

The uptick on health care was much sharper than on other commonly mentioned issues. It comes after Trump’s administration reduced spending on Medicaid, a safety net program for poor people, and decided to end coronavirus pandemic-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, essentially guaranteeing that millions of people will see a steep rise in costs early next year.

Despite the spike in health care concerns, immigration and broader worries about rising costs remain pressing issues, according to the December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

But Americans are also less confident that the government will be able to make progress on the important problems facing the country in 2026. About 66% of U.S. adults say they are “slightly” or “not at all confident,” down from 58% last year.

▶ Read more about the poll’s findings

The release of the Epstein files by the Justice Department has long been demanded by a public hungry to learn whether any of Epstein’s rich and powerful associates knew about — or participated in — the abuse. Epstein’s accusers have also long sought answers about why federal authorities shut down their initial investigation into the allegations in 2008.

Bowing to political pressure from fellow Republicans, Trump on Nov. 19 signed a bill giving the Justice Department 30 days to release most of its files and communications related to Epstein, including information about the investigation into Epstein’s death in a federal jail.

The Justice Department hasn’t said exactly when during the day it intends to make the records public.

Adding to the anticipation, House Democrats released several dozen more photos Thursday from among more than 95,000 that the House Oversight Committee received after issuing a subpoena for images Epstein possessed before he died in a New York jail cell in 2019.

▶ Read more about the files