Trump ‘desperate’ to broker peace due to Epstein woes

President Donald Trump is desperately scrambling to push through a Ukraine peace deal in a bid to distract from fresh claims linking him to Jeffrey Epstein, which threaten to overshadow his presidency, Knewz.com can reveal. The 79-year-old has cast himself as the only leader capable of ending the three-and-a-half-year conflict with Russia, even offering U.S. air power to police the skies if a ceasefire is reached. But it comes as the White House faces renewed controversy over claims about his relationship with the late predator and financier.

Adding to the scandal is the fact that a shocking new biography on Prince Andrew has been hastily reprinted to remove allegations claiming Epstein played a role in connecting the president and his wife, Melania Trump. Around 60,000 copies of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie initially included a claim that Epstein introduced Trump to Melania at a New York party in the 1990s. Those editions are now being reworked, with publisher HarperCollins confirming the passages had been removed in consultation with the author. The update followed legal threats from the first lady, 55.

Trump determined to stage trilateral talks with Zelensky and Putin

Speaking to Fox News, Trump said his bid to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could involve American air support for the war-ravaged nation. “We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably talk about by air, because there’s nobody has the kind of stuff we have,” he said. Trump insisted no American troops would be sent into Ukraine under any circumstances. “They want to have boots on the ground,” he said of European leaders. “You have my assurance — and I’m president,” he added, “that will not happen.” Trump has told allies he is determined to stage trilateral talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, 47, and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, 72. The Kremlin has signaled tentative openness, with Moscow sources suggesting a meeting could be hosted there, while U.S. officials stressed that any summit must be prepared for carefully. According to a European diplomat, “Defense officials are now working on concrete security guarantees — we will see….” But sources tell Knewz.com the urgency is linked not only to the war but also to Trump’s growing exposure in the Epstein saga.

Lawyers for the first lady wrote to Hunter Biden, 55, in August accusing him of making defamatory statements in an interview where he repeated the claim that Epstein introduced Trump to Melania. They demanded a retraction and apology or threatened a $1 billion lawsuit. “Jeffrey Epstein had nothing to do with Melania and introducing [us]. It was another person actually… but it wasn’t Jeffrey Epstein,” the president told Fox News Radio. Author Michael Wolff, who’s chronicled Trump’s presidency, had previously suggested Melania was “very involved” in Epstein’s circle and met her husband through a modeling agent tied to both men. That claim was briefly reported before being withdrawn. In her 2024 memoir, Melania, the first lady recalled meeting Trump at a Fashion Week party in New York in 1998. She wrote that he made her feel like “the center of his world.”

The timing of the Ukraine push has led some officials to question Trump’s motives. “The president seems desperate to get a peace photo-op. The Epstein stories make that urgency even more clear,” a Washington security source said. Meanwhile, European leaders including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, 47, and former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, 45, continue to press Washington to contribute to a broader coalition. Elina Valtonen, 43, Finland’s foreign minister, said allies had agreed to begin work on a framework for security guarantees. Trump said speed is essential. “You’re gonna have another 40,000 people dead in a month or two? You have to do it [now],” he said.