Justice Dept. Officials Are Expected to Interview Ghislaine Maxwell Today

“I know the executors are in possession of this book,” Mr. Edwards said.

The birthday book, a compilation of messages from some of Mr. Epstein’s associates and friends at the time, was compiled in 2003 by Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend and associate, for Mr. Epstein’s 50th birthday, according to a report last week in The Wall Street Journal. One of the people who signed the book was Mr. Trump.

Lawyers for the two executors of Mr. Epstein’s estate did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Edwards did not immediately return a request for comment.

Mr. Trump has denied he ever signed the book or wrote any messages in it and has sued The Wall Street Journal for defamation. The reported existence of the message has helped to fuel the firestorm in Washington over the Justice Department’s decision to announce that it will not be releasing any more information from its investigation of Mr. Epstein.

Mr. Trump was told by Attorney General Pam Bondi this spring that his name appeared in unreleased files from the investigation. Mr. Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to the case, and the files are likely to contain references to many people who came in contact with Mr. Epstein.

Mr. Epstein killed himself in a federal jail in August 2019, a month after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges.

Ms. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on charges of helping Mr. Epstein engage in the sex trafficking of teenage girls and is serving a 20 year prison sentence. The Justice Department has said it plans to meet with Ms. Maxwell to see if she has information to provide about others who may have participated in the trafficking of teenage girls and young women.

Ms. Maxwell has maintained her innocence all along. She is the only other person charged by prosecutors in connection with Mr. Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking operation that led to the abuse of more than 200 teenage girls and young women.

The executors of Mr. Epstein’s estate are his longtime former personal lawyer and former personal accountant.

The Fed did not have an immediate comment about Mr. Trump’s visit.

Top administration officials were already scheduled to tour the construction site on Thursday, a concession that was granted to them by the Fed as it has sought to deflect criticism of the project, which involves a pair of buildings that are close to 100 years old and undergoing a roughly $2.5 billion revamp.

In recent days, the central bank has published a virtual tour of the construction site, including footage of asbestos caulking being removed and blast-resistant windows being installed. It has also specified where certain features, like a rooftop terrace for staff, have been scaled back.

Mr. Trump’s visit marks an escalation in his pressure campaign against the Fed. Presidents do not typically go to the central bank in an official capacity, reflecting the longstanding independence of the institution from the White House.

Since returning to office, Mr. Trump and his top aides have been relentless in their criticism of Mr. Powell, who has resisted the president’s demands so far this year to significantly lower interest rates.

The Fed paused interest rate cuts in January after a series of reductions at the end of last year, a move that Mr. Trump on Wednesday branded as “political.”

“Our economy is so strong now, we’re blowing through everything, we’re setting records,” he said in the Oval Office. “People aren’t able to buy a house because this guy is a numbskull, he keeps the rates too high, and probably is doing it for political reasons.”

The president claimed that Mr. Powell had cut rates “just before the election to try to help Kamala, or whoever he was trying to help, he probably didn’t know.”

He has called for interest rates to be about 3 percentage points lower, or around 1 percent, a level that is typically associated with an economic downturn. He has also tied the need for lower borrowing costs to the country having to spend less on financing its deficit, a reason completely at odds with how the Fed typically sets monetary policy.

The Fed is widely expected to again keep interest rates steady when it meets next week.

Mr. Trump’s ire with Mr. Powell has grown so acute that he has openly toyed with firing him, which would likely cause chaos in financial markets and would be legally fraught. A president is limited in his ability to remove a Fed chair without there being evidence of extreme misconduct or other forms of “cause.”

Legal experts view the administration’s focus on the Fed’s renovations as a potential avenue to establish that cause.

Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, on Wednesday called on Mr. Powell to either be fired or to resign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has taken a more moderate stance, saying there was nothing to suggest that the chair needed to immediately step down, even as he called on the central bank to conduct an “exhaustive internal review of its non-monetary policy operations.”

They rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” meant that the longstanding constitutional guarantee to birthright citizenship could be redefined to exclude babies born to undocumented immigrants, as well as babies born to mothers who are in the country legally but temporarily, such as tourists, university students or temporary workers, if the father is a noncitizen.

The ruling appears to be the first time that an appellate court has ruled on birthright citizenship after a Supreme Court decision limiting the scope of injunctions sent lawyers scrambling to recast their claims in light of its new standard.

The executive order was signed by Mr. Trump on his first day in office. Individuals, states and organizations brought lawsuits, leading to a number of nationwide injunctions that blocked its implementation on constitutional grounds. The Trump administration then appealed one of those cases on an emergency basis to the Supreme Court, but asked it to rule only on the legality of far-reaching injunctions, and not the underlying question of whether the executive order itself passed constitutional muster.

In the original case before Judge John C. Coughenour of the Western District of Washington, four states argued that Mr. Trump’s executive order would force them to put in place new systems to determine who is eligible for state benefits, and reduce the payments they receive from the federal government.

The appeals court said that the fact that states had sued is what allowed it to uphold Judge Coughenour’s universal injunction, despite the Supreme Court ruling that reduced the lower courts’ power. The Supreme Court had left the door slightly open to universal injunctions when they were the only way to address the claim brought by the parties who sued, and the appellate judges found that this was such a case.

The opinion for the 2-to-1 majority was written by Judge Ronald M. Gould, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton. Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, another Clinton appointee, was also in the majority.

In a partial dissent, Judge Patrick J. Bumatay, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, argued that the court should have overturned Judge Coughenour’s injunction blocking the executive order because the states lacked standing to sue, and that the harms they claimed they would suffer under the order were “speculative.” But Judge Bumatay limited his dissent to questions of jurisdiction and standing; he did not address the question of the executive order’s constitutionality.

A group of pregnant women are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, but the appeals court dismissed their claims, finding that they are already covered by a separate class-action lawsuit in the District of New Hampshire.

It also represented yet another Trump attempt to pivot back to the attack, away from the political morass of the Jeffrey Epstein files, by targeting Mr. Obama, whose presidency set off a wave of reactionary anger that helped propel Mr. Trump from a punchline to political dominance.

The creation of a so-called strike force came days after the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released documents that she said proved top Obama administration officials carried out a “treasonous conspiracy.” That assertion was contradicted by a Senate Intelligence Committee review, which found significant evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election and was led in part by Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he served in the Senate.

It is unclear how the group will operate, or how seriously it intends to pursue Mr. Obama or his former aides.

Another investigative body the Trump administration created in February to go after the president’s enemies — the so-called Weaponization Working Group — has not brought any criminal cases to court. In fact, its leader, Ed Martin, has publicly declared that if he lacks sufficient evidence to charge Mr. Trump’s adversaries, he intends to compensate by merely naming and shaming them.

During a rambling rant at the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Trump rattled off the names of enemies he wanted his Justice Department to target. They included his former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, as well as former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Mr. Obama.

“It would be President Obama,” Mr. Trump said. “He started it.”

A spokesman for Mr. Obama reacted with a rare rebuke, calling Mr. Trump’s pledge to use the Justice Department “ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s decision to use a strike force is the latest in a succession of department efforts to repurpose existing entities to suit the president’s political dictates.

In the past, the department has used the strike force model to coordinate the activities of various government agencies to investigate health care fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering offenses, among other violations, according to the Justice Department’s website.

“This department takes alleged weaponization of the intelligence community with the utmost seriousness,” Ms. Bondi wrote in the statement. “We will investigate these troubling disclosures fully and leave no stone unturned to deliver justice.”

Her spokesman did not respond to requests to provide additional details.

As the scandal concerning Mr. Epstein has metastasized in recent days, Mr. Trump and his inner circle have increasingly reached for ways to distract his supporters. Often, that has included making unfounded allegations against his political opponents.

Among those the president has recently accused of wrongdoing are Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, whom Mr. Trump has said committed mortgage fraud. There is no indication that Trump officials have opened an investigation into Mr. Schiff.

Here’s a timeline of the president’s remarks on the scandal, and his various approaches to move on from it:

July 22

In his most recent attempts to redirect the conversation from Mr. Epstein, the president has unleashed a barrage of attacks against former President Barack Obama — an old but reliable target for Mr. Trump. For years, Mr. Trump promoted the lie that Mr. Obama was not legitimately elected because he was not born in the United States, a publicity stunt that significantly raised his profile in the Republican Party ahead of his 2016 run for president.

On Tuesday, during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines on trade issues, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Obama of treason, and said that the time had come for his opponents to face criminal charges.

Later that evening, during a reception with Republican members of Congress, Mr. Trump renewed his attacks against Mr. Obama, falsely claiming he had used deception in the 2016 election. He also plainly stated his intent to use the attacks against the former president as a means to distract reporters and deflect from negative news coverage, suggesting to his fellow Republicans that they respond to “inappropriate” questions by reporters by saying, “Oh by the way, Obama cheated on the election.”

July 20

On Sunday, Mr. Trump spent the day posting on social media about pretty much everything other than Mr. Epstein. He started by celebrating strong poll numbers, then went on to urge the Washington Commanders football team to take back its old name, the Redskins. (In another post, he threatened to derail a deal for the N.F.L. team to build a new stadium in Washington, D.C., if it did not comply.)

8:07 AM

My Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain “troublemakers.”

10:17 AM

The Washington “Whatever’s” should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team.

Later that afternoon, he resorted to attacking longtime political foes such as Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, and posted a fake video of Mr. Obama being arrested in the Oval Office. He also posted a three-minute compilation video of stunts. An hour later, he was back to political attacks, this time targeting Samantha Power, the former administrator of U.S.A.I.D.

2:03 PM

Adam Schiff is a THIEF! He should be prosecuted, just like they tried to prosecute me, and everyone else.

6:47 PM

7:56 PM

HOW DID SAMANTHA POWER MAKE ALL OF THAT MONEY???

July 17

Following The Wall Street Journal’s report that Mr. Trump sent a letter with a lewd drawing to Mr. Epstein for his birthday decades ago, Mr. Trump fired off a number of posts on Truth Social that follow a well-worn playbook for responding to reporting he disagrees with: Deny, attack and threaten to sue.

8:33 PM

The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued.

First, Mr. Trump declared the report fake and threatened to sue, which he did the very next day. He also offered a concession for those in his base who have been demanding the release of all information about the Epstein case:

9:07 PM

Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!

Many of Mr. Trump’s supporters had been openly flirting with revolt, which could be one reason he also directed Pam Bondi, the attorney general, to seek the public release of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of Mr. Epstein. In his post, Mr. Trump made it clear that he still thought this was unnecessary. (A federal judge in Florida denied the administration’s request on Wednesday.)

In his last post that evening, Mr. Trump primarily reiterated his first post, although he included an interesting denial: “I don’t draw pictures.”

9:57 PM

The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.

Mr. Trump regularly donated drawings to charities in New York in the early 2000s. Moreover, the drawings, many of which appear to be done with a thick, black marker and prominently feature his signature, are not dissimilar to how The Journal describes the image on the birthday note to Mr. Epstein.

July 16

After becoming increasingly exasperated by reporters’ questions about Mr. Epstein’s death, as well as attacks on Ms. Bondi, Mr. Trump went from gently coaxing his supporters to move on from the case to actively attacking those who continued to speak out about it. He castigated them as “weaklings” and disavowed them as “PAST supporters” that “have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.”

9:43 AM

I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!

Later that day, he also made an announcement that took Coca-Cola by surprise.

4:19 PM

I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola would not immediately comment on whether it had agreed to do so, and Mr. Trump’s version of events ultimately proved somewhat misleading. On an earnings call days later, the company said that it would begin offering a cane-sugar version of Coke in the United States this fall “to complement the company’s strong core portfolio.” But it is not replacing high-fructose corn syrup in existing products.

July 12

5:21 PM

What’s going on with my “boys” and, in some cases, “gals?” They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening.

After days of bruising attacks on Ms. Bondi from influencers within Mr. Trump’s far-right political coalition for failing to produce promised new evidence on Mr. Epstein’s death, Mr. Trump addressed his supporters directly, wondering aloud why they were choosing to undermine his administration by going after one of his own top officials.

The post came after a simmering battle between Ms. Bondi and Dan Bongino, the deputy head of the F.B.I., burst into public view over the Epstein case.