Epstein "Stole" Young Girls From Trump

7.30.25

Happy Wednesday and welcome back to today’s edition of Common Sense with Ally Sammarco—your daily briefing on the latest political (and entertainment) news. Let’s break it down.

Trump says Epstein "stole" girls from his spa….Donald Trump claimed Jeffrey Epstein “stole” underaged girls from his Mar-a-Lago spa like it’s some kind of petty theft, not human trafficking. This is the first time Donald Trump has linked Epstein, Mar-a-Lago, and the trafficking of children together. Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, was one of those young girls working in the Mar-a-Lago spa when she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to come work on Epstein’s island.

Common Sense take: This connection tells a much bigger story about how much Donald Trump knew during that period. He knew Epstein was “stealing” children from his country club but didn’t alert authorities and *also* didn’t remove Epstein from Mar-a-Lago until 2007, when Epstein was already undergoing investigations.

Senate confirms Emil Bove to appeals court amid court-packing buzz….The Senate just squeezed through a 51–49 confirmation vote for Emil Bove—best known as one of Trump’s defense attorneys—to a lifetime seat in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He’s not exactly your run-of-the-mill nominee. Even two Republicans voted no, but the GOP still got it done. Why the urgency? Because Republican leadership wants to ram through more judicial confirmations in record time.

Common Sense take: This isn’t about “filling a vacancy.” It’s about loading the bench with loyalists and using loopholes to do it faster. Bove’s confirmation isn’t the end, just the beginning, over the next 4 years.

IMF slashes global growth on U.S. tariff strategy….The International Monetary Fund isn’t mincing words: U.S. tariffs are shaking the global economy. With Trump’s “world tariff” idea—a blanket 15–20% tax on imports—back on the table, the IMF has downgraded forecasts and warned of rising inflation and slumping trade. Companies like Stellantis and Procter & Gamble are already sounding alarms about mounting losses, while the administration pretends it’s all part of some bigger strategy.

Common Sense take: The world economy is not a toy. Tariff wars don’t make America stronger—they just make groceries, cars, and medicine more expensive. Maybe Trump is making a point, but at the expense of the American people.

MAGA cracks emerge as MTG breaks party rank….It finally happened. Marjorie Taylor Greene broke with MAGA and called the situation in Gaza what it is—a genocide. That’s a huge ideological break from the MAGA cult and the Republican Party that has been in lockstep on Israel (and Netanyahu) for decades. Now, leadership is trying to keep their base in line as more disapproval of Israel’s intentional starvation of children in Gaza continues.

Common Sense take: Hell has frozen over when even MTG is willing to defy Trump’s foreign policy script. This could be a huge step in the administration taking actual punitive action against Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel for the years-long genocide on civilians in Gaza.

Sydney Sweeney is at the center of a storm….Sweeney’s new American Eagle campaign with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” accompanied by a voiceover on inherited traits (genes) is receiving a lot of backlash. Critics online have condemned the campaign as tone-deaf—arguing that the messaging evoked eugenics and white-supremacist tropes.

Common Sense take: The ad was cringey and not well-written, but ultimately she is a young, popular actress who is known for her good looks. That’s what the ad was going for. Now, let’s focus on real issues facing our country—because there’s a lot of them.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading Common Sense. Check back tomorrow for more.