Politics & Government
Could Trump be forced into bankruptcy? Hear why former investment banker thinks so
Hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters face prison sentences while Trump trial delayed
More WNY legislative candidates sign up for public financing program, first financial reports filed; a note about online sports gambling
Headlines for July 20, 2026
Trump biographer Michael Wolff argues Trump’s marriage is struggling

Trump biographer Michael Wolff argued First Lady Melania Trump has become an unnervingly unpredictable force within the White House that administration insiders cannot manage or predict.
In his Substack newsletter HOWL, Wolff writes, "Of all the self-dealing among Trump family members, Melania's moves—not just about money, but about calling attention to herself—are seen as most disturbing to the White House, and most in danger of putting her on a collision course with the president."
According to the Daily Beast, Wolff claimed the couple barely speaks and maintains little pretense that Melania resides at the White House full-time, spending most time in New York.
He characterized Melania as "a wild card that he can't seem to control or even game."
“Almost nobody near Trump—including Trump himself—knows Melania’s moves until she makes them,” Wolff writes.
Financial disclosures show Melania earned $10.71 million from her documentary despite it earning only $16.7 million worldwide, plus roughly $521,000 from her memoir.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle dismissed Wolff, cursing him off.
Watch the video below.
Gov. Kathy Hochul public schedule: in New York City and Albany on July 17, 2026
Epstein’s ‘friendship’ with Trump at center of ‘major security liability’: leading Dem

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) issued a fierce demand Monday to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche regarding President Donald Trump’s “long-term friendship” with Jeffrey Epstein, arguing it may have not only influenced the Trump administration’s policies, but created a “major national security liability.”
Raskin's demand came in the form of a letter to Blanche's office requesting records on Epstein's foreign ties, details of which have emerged through the Justice Department's release of millions of Epstein-related files that started last year. Specifically, Raskin’s request centered around suspicions that Epstein acted as a “foreign agent” for multiple countries, and on some occasions, did so “in order to influence policies of the first Trump administration.”
“Given the information Mr. Epstein possessed about President Trump and his easy access to high-level officials in the President’s inner circle, Mr. Epstein’s relationships with foreign leaders, including adversaries, posed a major national security liability,” Raskin’s letter reads.
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, released the letter publicly on Tuesday, in which he cited evidence suggesting that Epstein worked on behalf of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and Israel, a potential violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Raskin went on to detail several examples as to how Epstein’s friendship with Trump may have created a legitimate “security risk” to the United States, including one involving a “Russian oligarch.”
“Mr. Epstein privately alleged the President was involved in an international money laundering scheme with a Russian oligarch that centered around real estate in Florida. In another missive, Mr. Epstein connects the dots between this scheme and the sale of expensive artwork to [Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman],” Raskin’s letter reads.
“While Mr. Epstein was prone to exaggeration and self-aggrandizement, these emails suggest President Trump’s foreign business interests may have had a tangible effect on foreign policy and that Mr. Epstein knew about and was willing to weaponize such lurking and explosive conflicts of interest.”
Raskin demanded that Blanche's office turn over “all records” related to Epstein and 19 different countries, as well as all records relating to entities associated with Epstein that “may have been set up to avoid their foreign contacts triggering personal FARA registration requirements.”
In the letter, Raskin noted that Epstein, alongside former Trump official Steve Bannon, appeared to employ “strategies for skirting FARA’s requirements,” including the use of non-profit entities and other non-governmental organizations to structure “international arrangements,” and to “use go-betweens so he could remain ‘surgically pure.’”

