Donald Trump signs bill to end longest shutdown in US history

The US president has signed the spending bill to end the shutdown, which paralysed the government for 43 days.

The record-long shutdown in the US came to an end after Donald Trump authorised the funding bill after a stalemate between the Republicans and Democrats.

Thousands of flights were grounded, airport security was affected and other government functions were disrupted as federal workers, like air traffic controllers, were not paid during the shutdown.

Trump signed his name on the funding bill in the Oval Office shortly after it was approved in the House of Representatives last night.

Just hours before, a new dossier of emails relating to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged relationship with Andrew Windsor and Trump was released.

One email appeared to show Epstein saying ‘of course [Trump] knew about the girls,’ while another said Trump allegedly ‘spent hours’ with a sex trafficking victim at the businessman’s mansion.

The White House and Trump have always denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s operations.

Trump avoided being quizzed on the topic by not taking questions from journalists in the Oval Office.

He had previously labelled the release of the emails on Truth Social as the ‘Jeffrey Epstein hoax’ by the Democrats.

Trump said in a post: ‘The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.’

After signing the funding bill, Trump said it is ‘a great day,’ adding that ‘people were ‘hurt so badly’ from the shutdown, but that normal operations would resume.

However, US flight cancellations are likely to continue until all air traffic controllers have returned to work after many were not paid and had to take on second jobs to pay the bills.

A 6% reduction in flight remained yesterday as aviation officials assess when air traffic control can return to normal levels, transportation secretary Sean Duffy said.

What else is in the new Epstein emails?

The new emails released yesterday appear to reveal more about the alleged contact between Epstein and former Prince Andrew.

In one message, Andrew allegedly told Ghislaine Maxwell ‘I can’t take any more of this’ after questions over his alleged sex party with Virginia Giuffre emerged.

He appears to plead with Maxwell to deny any knowledge of Epstein’s sex orgy.

One of the emails says: ‘What’s all this? I don’t know anything about this! You must SAY so please. This has NOTHING to do with me.
‘I can’t take any more of this.’

Another email between Maxwell and Epstein in 2011 claims that Trump spent ‘hours at my house.’

Epstein told Maxwell: ‘I want you to realise that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.’

Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for grooming girls for Epstein’s abuse, responded: ‘I have been thinking about that.’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said following the emails: ‘The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.

‘The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and “couldn’t have been friendlier” to her in their limited interactions.

‘The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre.

‘These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.’

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