WSJ What’s News - Trump Reverses Course to Back Release of Epstein Files

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

A.M. Edition for Nov. 17. The White House throws its weight behind the House vote to release DOJ files related to Jeffrey Epstein. WSJ’s Scott Patterson explains what’s behind President Trump’s surprising reversal. Plus, good news for travelers: the FAA is set to lift flight restrictions today. And WSJ Paris bureau chief, Stacy Meichtry on why France is seeing a disturbing wave of museum heists and details the frightening fate of priceless crown jewels. Caitlin McCabe hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. President Trump reverses course and backs a House vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Plus, an immigration crackdown in North Carolina intensifies over the weekend. And France is scrambling to protect its valuables after thieves make off with more than its crown jewels. Museums, by their very nature, advertise what sorts of valuables they have on hand. And so this makes for very easy, soft targets. for organized criminals. It's Monday, November 17th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for the Wall Street Journal,

and here's the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We begin today in Washington, where President Trump has thrown in the towel on trying to dissuade House Republicans from backing the release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. On social media late yesterday, Trump said, Republicans should vote for the measure because, quote, we have nothing to hide and it's time to move on from this Democratic hoax. His message was a sharp departure from previous efforts to deter his party from supporting the vote, with Trump saying on Air Force One as recently as Friday that Democrats want to waste people's time and, quote, some of the dumber Republicans like that. But officials told us that

his push to dissuade the GOP wasn't getting results and risk calling even more attention to the matter. In an appearance on ABCs this week, House Republican Thomas Massey of Kentucky, who has been seeking a vote on the files, speculated that there could be a hundred or more Republicans who support the measure. He said he's hoping for a supermajority of two-thirds of the House that could override a Trump veto if needed. I would remind my Republican colleagues who are deciding how to vote, Donald Trump can protect you in red districts right now by giving you an endorsement, But in 2030, he's not going to be the president, and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don't vote to release these files. And the president can't protect you then.

This vote, the record of this vote, will last longer than Donald Trump's presidency. The vote to compel the Justice Department to turn over its Epstein-related files is set for this week. And as Washington reporter Scott Patterson explains, it's shaping up to be one of the first major tests of Republican loyalty for the president, who has kept in I. iron grip over his party since taking office in January. House Republicans, it looks like there will be enough who are going to vote for this, that it will pass. And from there, it will go to the Senate. The Senate is a bigger question. It's not clear whether there are enough Republicans in the Senate who will support the measure. It could easily fail.

Scott added that if it does pass the Senate, the measure would then go to Trump's desk for signature. Turning now to Charlotte, North Carolina, where an immigration crackdown intensified over the weekend, with authorities arresting 81 people on Saturday alone. That's according to U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who said more detentions are planned in the coming days. He said on social media that number included many who, quote, had a significant criminal and immigration history. Protesters marched through North Carolina's largest city Saturday. and the city's mayor, Vi Lylez, a Democrat, said the operation was, quote, causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty in our community.

Carlos Magagna, a North Carolina resident, said many people are afraid to go outside. I've been in contact with people who, a lot of friends and family and acquaintances, who say that they're not going out, they're having their kids who are citizens go and pick up their clothes and food for them. It's terrifying to pretty much know that at any moment, a federal agent can just come out and abuse you just because of the way you look. Bovino has led similar immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, as the Trump administration has stepped up enforcement in several Democratic-run cities. And the Federal Aviation Administration is lifting flight restrictions stemming from the government shut down, ending the 6% traffic cut implemented last week and clearing the way for normal operations to resume at U.S. airports after weeks of disruption. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said that the flight restrictions would end at 6 a.m. Eastern this morning. The move comes after the FAA reviewed safety trends and saw improving staffing levels.

However, airlines have warned that it could take several days for full operations to resume and for flight crews to get back into place. Coming up, President Trump signals he may be open to talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as military buildup. in the region grows. Plus, how the recent robbery at the Louvre points to a much bigger crisis for France. That and more after the break. President Trump has said his administration may hold talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, even as the U.S. military continues to bolster its presence near the South American country. The Trump administration has said the military buildup is aimed at stemming the flow of drugs into the U.S. and isn't geared toward overthrowing

Maduro. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for more information about potential U.S. outreach to Venezuela. A senior administration official said that no military action in Venezuela was imminent, even as the Navy's largest aircraft carrier entered the Caribbean Sea. Here's journal correspondent, Shelby Holiday. The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford brings 4,000 sailors into theater, as well as dozens of aircraft, like F-18 fighters that can strike targets on land, and growler electronic warfare planes that can attack and jam enemy radars and air defenses. Even before the Ford's arrival, the U.S. had deployed some of its most advanced weapons and elite units to the Caribbean,

and President Trump has sent mixed messages about plans to strike inside the country. He has publicly discussed striking targets on land, but has also said that he isn't considering ordering attacks on Venezuela. In response to questions for the story, a defense official told the journal that the U.S. doesn't discuss the movement or specific locations of assets. The Trump administration has been carrying out strikes against alleged drugboats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing dozens of people. And in Chile, voters in the first round of presidential elections have overwhelmingly backed four right-wing candidates. It sets the stage for a runoff between ultra-conservative former congressman Jose Antonio Cast and Communist Party candidate

Jeanette Hara on December 14th. Hara is expected to lose to cast who is considered a Trump ally. It also marks a broader shift away from progressive governments in Latin America, with conservatives poised to do well in next year's elections in Peru and Colombia. South Korean tech stocks rose earlier today after the country's largest conglomerates pledged billions of dollars in new domestic investments. Korea Bureau Chief Tim Martin says it's part of a push to shore up the country's manufacturing base as Seoul works to ease trade frictions with Washington. Samsung pledged more than $300 billion.

Hyundai put up more than $80 billion, LG, another $60 billion, and this includes big bets locally into AI, into semiconductors, into next generation, EVs. And this is a way for these big Korean companies to placate fears that all of their resources are drifting to the U.S. We saw the U.S. and South Korea put out a fact sheet around a trade deal that they had recently agreed upon just last week, and this includes $350 billion in U.S. investments. And Tim says the South Korean government is also pledging more support to bolster its key domestic industries.

One of the realities of South Korea's economy is, while it can be thriving, it might not feel that way on the ground because of how export-dependent the country's economy is. South Korea ships a lot of semiconductors, EVs, batteries, to overseas markets. And the South Korean government knows it has made a big ass to the private sector to help shore up this trade deal between Seoul and Washington to the tune of $350 billion in investments. But Seoul will also backstop, particularly with smaller and medium-sized companies, some type of support measures. So with autos, we saw the South Korean government pledge more than $10 billion in help.

The trade deal with Washington means Seoul has committed private companies to invest in highly competitive industries in the U.S., including shipbuilding, semiconductors, and biotech. And finally, after last month's brazen robbery at the Louvre in Paris, a national debate continues over how to protect France's most valuable artworks. While thieves walking away with the country's crown jewels made international headlines, the robbery at the world's most visited museum was in fact just one of nine different heists in France over the past year. And few of the objects taken have been recovered. Our Paris Bureau Chief Stacey Maitre says the problem for authorities is protecting the country's most valuable items in places that are hard to secure.

It's not just that there's a lack of security at these museums. It's also that many of them are housed in historic buildings that were not built to be museums. The Louvre, obviously being a perfect example of this, it was built as a palace for French royalty. It has tons of windows, balconies, access points. You know, there aren't a lot of barriers to entry here, both literally and figuratively. You can do it through a relatively low-tech operation, as we saw with the Louvre with, you know, the use of these angle grinders to cut through windows. when we started looking at other museums across France, the operations there were even more basic.

We came across one museum that got hit twice in a 48-hour period by two different groups. President Emmanuel Macron's administration is currently scrambling to take a census of the country's most valuable artworks to determine which cultural sites will get reinforced first. And Stacey says with the price of gold and other metals soaring, museums in France and across Europe continue to be easy prey for thieves. What they're looking for in the collections are works with quote-unquote melt value. And so, you know, they were talking about in the most literal sense works that are made of gold. Obviously, the price of gold has been surging. And obviously that was what was at play in the Louvre's crown jewels. Typically, these goods are not

recovered. Once they're gone, they're gone for good. The thieves move pretty quickly in order to either hand them off or to melt them down. The Natural History Museum was Rob not too long ago by just a single thief who made off with a collection of historic gold nuggets. And that thief was caught in Spain trying to melt the stuff down. So, you know, it gets very difficult to trace and track down. And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Today's show is produced by Daniel Bach, Kate Bullivant, and Hattie Moyer. Our supervising producer was Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.