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Bill Gates has admitted making a “huge mistake” in associating with Jeffrey Epstein, telling staff at his charity foundation that he had affairs with two Russian women but denying involvement in the disgraced financier’s crimes.The Microsoft co-founder is among the prominent names appearing in documents released by the US Justice Department that revealed close friendships, illicit financial dealings and private photos with convicted sex offender Epstein.In a town hall Tuesday with staff at the Gates Foundation, a recording of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gates expressed regret that his relationship with Epstein had affected the work of his philanthropic organization.”It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein” and to also bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with Epstein, he said.”I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.”In a draft email among the documents released by the Justice Department, Epstein alleged Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from “helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women.”- ‘I saw nothing illicit’ -Gates, 70, admitted at the town hall to two affairs.”I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,” he said.But he denied any involvement with victims of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls.”I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates told the town hall.The tech titan said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.Gates said he knew of an “18-month thing” restricting Epstein’s travel but didn’t check his background.He said his then-wife Melinda expressed concerns about Epstein in 2013, but that he continued the relationship for at least another year.”Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it’s clear there was ongoing bad behavior,” Gates told staff.The Gates Foundation said Gates addressed the Epstein case and other issues at its scheduled twice-yearly town hall event. “Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions,” it said in a statement to AFP.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will seek to address Caribbean leaders’ concerns about Cuba at a summit on Wednesday, as Washington ramps up pressure on the communist island fresh after removing Venezuela’s president.Rubio, a Cuban-American who has spent his political career hoping to topple Havana’s government, is also looking for sustained cooperation on Venezuela and troubled Haiti as he takes part in the summit of the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, which does not include Cuba.After attending President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress, Rubio flew overnight to join the summit in Saint Kitts and Nevis, a sun-kissed former British colony of fewer than 50,000 people.Rubio became the highest-ranking US official ever to visit the tiny country, the birthplace of one of the United States’ founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton.Trump has reoriented foreign policy toward the Western Hemisphere through his “Donroe Doctrine” in which he has vowed unrepentant intervention to advance US interests.After US forces snatched Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro in a January 3 raid, the Latin American country has been forced to cut off its crucial oil shipments to Cuba.This has plunged Cuba into a further economic morass with fuel shortages and rolling blackouts.Speaking at the opening of the CARICOM summit on Tuesday, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness warned that a further deterioration in Cuba will impact stability across the Caribbean and trigger migration — the top political concern for Trump.”Humanitarian suffering serves no one,” Holness said. “A prolonged crisis in Cuba will not remain confined to Cuba.”- Plea for ‘stability’ -Holness said that Jamaica believed in democracy and free markets — a rebuke to the communist system in Havana — but called for “humanitarian relief” for Cubans.”Jamaica supports constructive dialogue between Cuba and the United States aimed at de-escalation, reform and stability,” he said.”We believe there is space, perhaps more space now than in years past, for pragmatic engagement.”The summit’s host, Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew, also called for humanitarian backing to Cuba, saying: “A destabilized Cuba will destabilize all of us.”A medical doctor, Drew studied for seven years in Cuba and said friends there have told him of food scarcity, power outages and garbage strewn in the streets.”I can only feel the pain of those who treated me so well when I was a student,” he said.The United States has imposed sanctions on Cuba almost continuously since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.Since becoming the top US diplomat, Rubio has publicly toned down calls for regime change, and Washington has quietly held discussions with Havana.Trump and Rubio have threatened sanctions against countries that sell oil to Cuba but stopped short of enacting some measures pushed by Cuban-American hardline critics of Havana, such as prohibiting the transfer of remittances.- ‘Elephant in the room’ -Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, said she empathized with the Cuban people but took issue with her Jamaican counterpart’s remarks.”We cannot advocate for others to live under communism and dictatorship,” she said.She also criticized CARICOM countries for their reticence, at least publicly, to back what she called the “elephant in the room” — US intervention in Venezuela.Trinidad and Tobago, whose coast is visible from Venezuela, gave access to the US military in the run-up to the operation that removed Maduro.The deposed Venezuelan leader faces US charges of narco-trafficking, which he denies.Persad-Bissessar thanked Trump, Rubio “and the US military… for standing firm against narco-trafficking, human and arms smuggling.”The Trump administration has been carrying out deadly strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, drawing criticism by those who say the attacks are legally and ethically dubious.The Trinidadian prime minister praised the US approach and credited it with bringing down her country’s homicide rate by helping cut the flow of firearms from Venezuela.

California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, published his memoir Tuesday in a step experts said was necessary before rolling out any future campaign.Such books offer “a sort of summary” of a potential candidate’s view of the country and allow a politician to “sort of control” publicity outside of the normal news cycle, said Brian Arbour, a political science professor at the City University of New York.Travis Ridout, a political science professor at Washington State University, said book tours “give potential candidates a way to campaign without really admitting that they are campaigning.”Through a book, he said, politicians can “establish an official version of their background and experiences” and “make them seem credible” before a campaign.But Newsom insists that “Young Man in a Hurry,” published a year late due to the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, is not “one of those political books that I wrote just to get it ahead of some cycle in the calendar year.””It’s not about the politician. It’s about what shaped me — the events, the travails, the setbacks, self-imposed and otherwise, the insecurities, the anxieties, the regrets,” he said at a promotional event in New York on Tuesday.At 58 years old, the former mayor of San Francisco who built his career in winemaking and hospitality, reflects in the book on his dyslexia and his upbringing between a mother working multiple jobs and a father who was a judge close to some of California’s wealthiest people.Another potential presidential candidate, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, released his own book at the end of January, while New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear will do the same later this year.- ‘Fighting fire with fire’ -Speaking to several hundred New Yorkers at the event, Newsom said his book was not a “10-point plan for America’s renewal.”  He said Democrats were not taking enough action to win the argument against Republicans on various issues.”Sometimes we sit back, we’re on our heels. We’re not leaning in,” he said.”We just think the facts are going to bear up. We can win the argument. We can moralize this… That doesn’t work anymore with Donald Trump, we have to fight fire with fire.”Samantha Reilly, a 58-year-old accountant from Long Island who attended the event, said she saw Newsom as a strong presidential candidate.”He’s vying for it. And yes, I think he would be a good prospect, actually. I love the way he took on Trump,” she said.The stops on Newsom’s book tour also raised eyebrows among the experts who spoke to AFP. New York is a typical location, but Georgia, South Carolina and New Hampshire are less so.Those states will be key in the primaries that decide who is the Democratic presidential nominee.”Newsom might also want to show some appeal in the South, a region of the country in which a Californian might not seem a natural fit,” said Ridout.Arbour believes it’s an attempt to appeal to African-American Democratic voters.”The reason it’s important on the Democratic side is that usually slightly over half of the electorate in the South Carolina Democratic primary is African American,” he said.”It plays a very important role, because obviously African Americans are an essential part of the Democratic base.”Newsom’s team, meanwhile, told Politico the book tour was planned to show “support” for Democratic candidates in Republican strongholds and “up and down the ballot.” The governor of California since 2019 insists he has not decided whether he will run for president in 2028.He told CNN on Sunday that he will make any future decision with his wife and four children.

For the first State of the Union address of his second term, US President Donald Trump decided to go long, broaching everything from the economy to Iran during his one hour and 47 minute speech to Congress.Here are five key moments from the longest-ever State of the Union address: – Supreme Court tension -Upon entering the US Capitol, Trump shook hands with several Supreme Court justices in attendance — three of whom had ruled days earlier to strike down the global tariffs he had made his signature economic policy. Trump voiced his displeasure during the speech, calling the ruling “very unfortunate,” as the justices watched on from the front row.The president did not dwell long on the subject, however, and said his administration was already planning a legal work-around to keep the duties he insists will be paid for by foreign countries. – Team USA unifies -During a speech marked by political divides between Trump’s Republicans and opposition Democrats, one of the few moments of unity occurred when the gold medal-winning US men’s Olympic hockey team entered the room. The entire audience rose and applauded, chanting “USA! USA!” in unison, to recognize the Olympians, who clinched America’s first ice hockey gold in 46 years.- Democratic resistance -Congress plays a key, performative role during the State of the Union, applauding and standing up in agreement with the president or sitting still to voice their displeasure.Dozens of Democrats skipped the event altogether, and those in attendance largely stayed seated except on rare occasion.Several wore white to pay homage to the suffragette movement celebrating women’s right to vote, or donned pins demanding accountability over those named in the files released on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.In one notable act of resistance, Democratic lawmaker Al Green was expelled after holding up a sign reading “Black people aren’t apes!” in response to a racist video of the Obamas shared by Trump.- Congresswoman heckles Trump -Tensions soared when House Democrat Ilhan Omar, who has frequently sparred with Trump, shouted at the president while he spoke.”You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Trump told Democrats in attendance, who had refused to stand up throughout his address.”You have killed Americans,” Omar shouted in response, in reference to the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents dispatched to Minneapolis last month.The lawmaker, whose district represents Minneapolis, later left the speech before Trump had finished.- Longest speech ever -At one hour and 47 minutes, Trump delivered the longest State of the Union speech in US history, beating the previous record of one hour and 20 minutes set by former president Bill Clinton in 2000.The speech even outlasted Trump’s address to Congress last year shortly after taking office, which lasted one hour and 40 minutes.

US President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday of a “turnaround for the ages” in his State of the Union speech, seeking to reverse dismal polls and see off mounting challenges at home and abroad ahead of crucial midterm elections.Trump sought to paint a rosy picture of his achievements in his longest-ever speech to Congress — and despite branding Democrats “crazy” the Republican president largely struck a measured tone.But Trump’s speech — met with repeated standing ovations from Republicans while Democrats remained seated in protest and sometimes heckled — was notably short on actual policy announcements. As US naval and air forces massed in the Middle East, Trump claimed Iran was seeking missiles able to hit US territory but said his “preference” was for a diplomatic solution.Trump began what became a record-breaking one hour and 47 minute State of the Union by painting an optimistic picture, declaring America was “bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.””Tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,” Trump said.The 79-year-old hopes the primetime speech, broadcast across all major networks, will help him to sell that message to voters after a deeply divisive first year back in power.- ‘Delusional’ -Top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer called Trump’s speech “delusional” and said it failed to address the struggles of ordinary Americans.Underwater in opinion polls, Trump focused on what he said were his administration’s economic achievements but offered little solace for voters angered by the cost of living.Trump fears his Republican Party will lose control over Congress in the November midterms, paralyzing the rest of his second term and exposing him to a possible third impeachment.He sought to seize on national enthusiasm over Team USA’s gold medal winning Olympic ice hockey performance by inviting the players to join him in the Chamber to massive cheers and chants of “USA!”He then announced he was awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the country’s highest civilian honor — to the team’s goalie.And he handed Medals of Honor — the highest military award — to a helicopter pilot wounded in January’s attack to topple Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and also to a 100-year-old Korean War veteran.- ‘Sinister nuclear ambitions’ -Turning to what he said were his administration’s efforts to boost US security, Trump claimed that Iran is seeking missiles that could reach the United States. He repeated his insistence that the country would never be allowed to build a nuclear weapon, saying that Tehran’s leaders were “at this moment again pursuing their sinister nuclear ambitions.”Iran has repeatedly denied that it is seeking a nuclear weapon.Trump left the door open for a peaceful resolution, noting that negotiations were continuing and said “my preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy.”He boasted that Venezuela was now shipping oil to the United States after Washington ousted its leader, and celebrated the killing of a Mexican narco kingpin.- Trump lashes out -At about the hour mark, Trump resumed his customary dark rhetoric against opponents and undocumented immigrants.Trump claimed Democrats were “destroying our country” and that Somali “pirates” had “ransacked” Minnesota.The president told Congress to pass a law imposing additional ID requirements for Americans to vote, pushing his unprecedented and false claims that US elections suffer from “rampant” cheating.The battle over the right to vote comes as Republicans are trying to avoid losing their narrow majority in the House of Representatives — and potentially the Senate.A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll published on Sunday showed Trump’s approval rating at a lowly 39 percent. Only 41 percent approved of his handling of the economy overall, and just 32 percent on inflation.He has been battered by a series of blows, most recently with the Supreme Court’s striking down of his use of coercive trade tariffs against countries all over the world.Trump, who earlier branded the court’s justices “fools and lapdogs” over the tariff ruling, briefly shook hands with several of the justices in attendance but went on in his speech to declare their ruling “very unfortunate.”The billionaire has also been rocked by a backlash to the killing of two US citizens in immigration raids in Minneapolis and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. He did not mention the Epstein scandal in his speech.

The rebuttal to Donald Trump’s State of the Union was delivered Tuesday by a stalwart of the Democrats’ moderate wing — seen as a model for the centrism some bet is key to winning November’s midterm elections.Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger criticized the US president for his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein affair as well as alleged corruption, but mostly focused on cost-of-living issues centrists believe will have cross-party appeal.”Costs are too high in housing, health care, energy and child care,” Spanberger said in a staid, measured speech.”Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”Spanberger, a former CIA officer and three-term Congresswoman, successfully won back the Virginia governor’s mansion from Republicans last year with an affordability-focused platform.Her selection to deliver the party’s formal rebuttal to Trump’s address to Congress was clearly aimed at putting forward an example for the rest of the party to follow.The Democratic Party remains split over turning out centrist and even moderate Republican voters or firing up the base on progressive promises of sweeping reform.While left-wing stalwarts like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have also run campaigns on affordability, Spanberger also emphasized more traditional centrist ideals like bipartisanship, patriotism and her law enforcement bonafides.Spanberger also hit Trump on issues like the immigration crackdown, saying federal agents have “ripped nursing mothers away from their babies,” while saying the immigration system was “broken.”The primaries ahead of the midterms are likely to see some combative races between moderate and Democratic progressives.With Spanberger, the Democratic leadership was signaling a preference for persuasion and disciplined messaging over ideological confrontation.Party leaders view her as a communicator capable of reaching beyond the Democratic base at a time when cost‑of‑living pressures dominate public debate.”Those who are stepping up now to run will win in November, because Americans — you at home — know you can demand more,” she said.Spanberger first gained national prominence in 2018 when she captured a Republican-held suburban district in Virginia, part of a Democratic wave driven by moderate candidates and disaffected swing voters.She later secured reelection in the competitive seat before securing the governorship last year, solidifying her reputation as an election winner focused on economic and national security concerns.Her campaigns have consistently emphasized healthcare, economic stability and bipartisan problem‑solving — priorities Democrats hope will resonate with suburban and independent voters this November.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Iran is seeking to develop missiles that can strike the United States and accused Tehran of working to rebuild a nuclear program that was targeted by American strikes last year.The United States and Iran are engaged in high-stakes negotiations over Iran’s atomic program and other issues including missiles, with Trump saying he prefers diplomacy but is willing to use force if talks fail.”They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” Trump said during his State of the Union address.In 2025, the US Defense Intelligence Agency said Iran could potentially develop a militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “should Tehran decide to pursue the capability,” but did not say if it had made such a decision.Tehran currently possesses short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with ranges that top out at about 1,850 miles (3,000 kilometers), according to the US Congressional Research Service.The continental United States is more than 6,000 miles from Iran’s western tip.Washington and Tehran have concluded two rounds of talks aimed at reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear program to replace the agreement that Trump tore up during his first term in office.- ‘Preference’ is diplomacy -The United States has repeatedly called for zero uranium enrichment by Iran but has also sought to address its ballistic missile program and support for armed groups in the region — demands Iran has rejected.Iran has also repeatedly rejected that it is pursuing nuclear weapons.Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last year, claiming afterward that Tehran’s atomic program was obliterated.On Tuesday, he said Iran wants “to start all over again,” and that it is “at this moment again pursuing their sinister nuclear ambitions.”Trump has sent a massive US military force to the Middle East, deploying two aircraft carriers as well as more than a dozen other ships, a large number of warplanes and other assets to the region.He has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if negotiations fail to reach a new agreement. Talks with Tehran are currently set to continue on Thursday.”My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.The US president’s speech primarily focused on domestic issues, making no mention at all of China — Washington’s primary military and economic rival — and only briefly referring to Russia.Trump said he was working to end the bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and repeated his inaccurate claim that he had brought eight other wars to an end since returning to office in January 2025.He also hailed NATO’s decision to spend five percent of gross domestic product on defense — a move made under heavy pressure from Trump and his administration.

If Donald Trump was worried about a hostile reception over his breakneck remaking of presidential norms, he did not show it — striding in six minutes late, with the unhurried confidence of a man who knew the evening belonged to him.Republicans rose in successive waves, while many Democrats remained seated with fixed expressions.Only later, when the US men’s Olympic ice hockey team was introduced, would the entire chamber rise together.On nights like these, the US House of Representatives is less a legislature than a stage. The choreography is simple — one side applauds, the other scowls, and the republic survives another evening.The Supreme Court justices occupied their usual front-row spot — their black robes lending the scene the air of a quietly disapproving jury. This year, however, the proximity was unusually charged as merely days earlier, three of the justices present had struck down the global tariffs that Trump had made his signature economic policy.Attendance was thinner than usual, with dozens of Democrats boycotting, though the empty seats gave the spectacle the breathing room lost in the chaos of Trump’s protest‑hit 2025 appearance.- Hope, loss, fear -The president began as he nearly always does: with victory. The economy was thriving, America was respected and the nation had, under his guidance, become richer and more formidable.Polls suggest most Americans disagree, but the State of the Union is an exercise in imagination, not measurement.Trump lingered on inflation, which he said was falling, and jobs, which he said were rising. He praised the stock market with proprietary warmth. When he turned to tariffs, however, the chamber stiffened. The Supreme Court ruling, he said, was mistaken.The guests supplied the emotional punctuation — watching the address with expressions that carried stories into the room: pride, passion, hope, loss, fear, accusation. They included survivors of notorious sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, as well as the hockey players, fresh from victory and somewhat bewildered by the grandeur. For a moment, when the Olympians were recognized, the chamber roared “USA! USA!” and the country remembered that it liked itself.- Crescendo -Democrats had been told by their leaders to be on their best behavior: protest, but elegantly. Several wore white in homage to the Suffragettes, or pins demanding more accountability over Epstein.Democratic Congressman Al Green, expelled over disruptions last year, held up a sign berating Trump for sharing a racist video of the Obamas — “Black people aren’t apes,” it read — and was swiftly ejected again.     There were heckles and a smattering of jeers from the wings as Trump hit the hour mark — earning a slapdown from the Republican leader — but the main protest was the weaponized silence of half the chamber withholding applause. Outside, rival versions of the republic unfolded. Activists staged their own “People’s State of the Union,” while lawmakers issued rebuttals before the speech had even finished — an innovation reflecting the modern preference for simultaneity over suspense.The address built, as they tend to, towards a crescendo of certainty: America had never been stronger. Republicans rose, Democrats remained seated, and the justices, bound by institutional restraint, tried their best to do neither.

A Democratic lawmaker was ejected from US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday after holding up a sign reading “Black people aren’t apes!”, referencing a racist video of the Obamas posted on Trump’s social media account.The footage posted and then deleted on Trump’s Truth Social account earlier this month showed Barack and Michelle Obama — the first Black president and first lady in US history — depicted as monkeys, sparking outrage across the US political spectrum.Veteran congressman Al Green of Texas stood up as Trump arrived to address the joint session of Congress, waving the protest sign before someone in the crowd appeared to try and grab it from him.Green, who is Black, stood his ground and was still holding up the sign as Trump started his prime-time address. But the lawmaker was eventually escorted out of the chamber amid chants of “USA! USA! USA!”Last year Green shook his cane at Trump and shouted at him as the president addressed Congress, prompting jeers from Republicans across the aisle and leading congressional aides to escort him out as Trump looked on.

US President Donald Trump was to deliver a high-stakes State of the Union address Tuesday, boasting of a “turnaround for the ages” and vowing to confront threats to America as conflict with Iran looms.In what promises to be a marathon speech to a joint session of Congress, Trump will seek to sell voters on the achievements of a breakneck and deeply divisive first year back in power.But the 79-year-old Republican faces a major challenge to reverse his dismal approval ratings and convince Americans ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.Republicans fear Trump’s unpopularity could lose them their wafer-thin majority in the House — paralyzing the rest of Trump’s second term and exposing him to a possible third impeachment.Trump however was set to strike a defiant tone in the first official State of the Union of his second term.”Tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,” Trump was to say, according to excerpts released by the White House.Trump is expected to focus in particular on the economy, having promised a “golden age” despite their concerns about the cost of living.- ‘Confront threats to America’ -On the international front, the man who complained that he did not win last year’s Nobel peace prize is now mulling military strikes on Iran over its nuclear program and crackdown on protesters.”As president, I will make peace wherever I can — but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump was to say, according to the excerpts.His spokeswoman posted a picture of Trump with his Iran negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner shortly before the speech.The president himself warned on Monday that the first official State of the Union of his second term was “going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about.”Speculation mounted that the speech could be as long as three hours — far outstripping the hour and 40 minutes that Trump gave in the longest ever speech to lawmakers last year.But Trump has been battered by a series of blows in the second year of his second term, most recently when the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs at the heart of his economic agenda.In an extra touch of drama, the same justices Trump branded “fools and lapdogs” over the tariff ruling will be sitting right in front of him in the chamber of the House of Representatives.The billionaire has also been rocked by a backlash by the killing of two US citizens in immigration raids in Minneapolis, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and a new partial government shutdown. A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll published on Sunday showed his approval rating at 39 percent. Only 41 percent approved of his handling of the economy overall, and just 32 percent on inflation.- Democrat boycott -Democrats are lining up responses including boycotts and silent protests for the address. The New York Times said at least 40 Democrats were set to skip the speech.The State of the Union speech is mandated by the US Constitution, which says that the president shall “from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union.” Adding to the interest will be the guests that both Republicans and Democrats bring to watch the address from the gallery, part of a long tradition.Trump has invited the US men’s ice hockey team after they won Olympic gold. But the women’s team said they were declining Trump’s invitation, US media reported.The president was also inviting Erika Kirk, the widow of assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.Two Democratic members of the House of Representatives said they were bringing as guests the family members of a victim of disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein.Trump has denied any links to sex offender Epstein but the scandal continues to nag at his presidency.