In October 2018, U.S.-based journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside Saudi Arabia's embassy in Istanbul, Turkey. The CIA concluded that the assassination was carried out by Saudi operatives, on order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The prince denied the accusations, although other U.S. intelligence agencies later made the same formal assessment.
This month, President Trump showered the Saudi leader with praise during his first invitation to the White House since the killing. "We've been really good friends for a long period of time," said Trump. "We've always been on the same side of every issue."
Clearly. Their shared disdain — and fear — of a free press was evident, from downplaying the killing of Khashoggi to snapping at ABC News reporter Mary Bruce when she asked about his murder.
"You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that," Trump said, then he proceeded to debase a journalist who wasn't there to report on the event because he'd been silenced, forever. Referring to Khashoggi, he said, "A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen."
Fender-benders happen. Spilled milk happens. But the orchestrated assassination of a journalist by a regime that he covers is not one of those "things" that just happen. It's an orchestrated hit meant to silence critics, control the narrative and bury whatever corruption, human rights abuses or malfeasance that a healthy free press is meant to expose.
Bruce did what a competent reporter is supposed to do. She deviated from Tuesday's up-with-Saudi-Arabia! agenda to ask the hard questions of powerful men not used to being questioned about anything, let alone murder. The meeting was meant to highlight the oil-rich country's investment in the U.S. economy, and at Trump's prompting, Prince Mohammed said those investments could total $1 trillion.
Prince Mohammed addressed the death of Khashoggi by saying his country hopes to do better in the future, whatever that means. "It's painful and it's a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this doesn't happen again."
And just in case the two men hadn't made clear how little they cared about the slain journalist, and how much they disdain the news media, Trump drove those points home when he referred to Bruce's query as "a horrible, insubordinate, and just a terrible question." He suggesting that ABC should lose its broadcasting license.
Trump confirmed Tuesday that he intends to sell "top of the line" F-35 stealth fighter jets to Riyadh. It's worth noting that the team of 15 Saudi agents allegedly involved in Khashoggi's murder flew to Istanbul on government aircraft. The reporter was lured to the Saudi embassy to pick up documents that were needed for his planned marriage to a Turkish woman.
The prince knew nothing about it, said Trump on Tuesday, despite the findings of a 2021 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that cited "the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Mohammad bin Salman's protective detail." It concluded that it was "highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince's authorization."
To no one's surprise, the Saudi government had tried to dodge the issue before claiming Khashoggi had been killed by rogue officials, insisting that the slaying and dismemberment was not premeditated. They offered no explanation of how a bonesaw just happened to be available inside the embassy.
Five men were sentenced to death, but one of Khashoggi's sons later announced that the family had forgiven the killers, which, in accordance with Islamic law, spared them from execution.
The president's castigation of ABC's Bruce was the second time in a week that he has ripped into a female journalist when she asked a "tough" question (i.e. anything Newsmax won't ask). Trump was speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One last Friday when Bloomberg News' Catherine Lucey asked him follow-up question about the Epstein files. The president replied, "Quiet. Quiet, piggy."
Trump's contempt for the press was clear, but so was something else he shares with the crown prince, Hungary's Victor Orban and Vladimir Putin: The president doesn't just hate the press. He fears it.
On Nov. 12, 2025, multiplenewsoutlets reported on documents released by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives that supposedly showed messages by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about U.S. President Donald Trump.
For example, The Associated Press reported Epstein wrote in a 2019 email to a journalist that Trump "knew about the girls," citing the public documents. According to ABC News, Epstein once referred to Trump as the "dog that hasn't barked" and told his former companion Ghislaine Maxwell that an alleged victim had "spent hours at my house with Trump," per the records.
Snopes is working to analyze the documents for independent verification, as of this writing.
The White House is accusing Democrats of selectively leaking the records "to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump."
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt wrote in an email to Snopes, "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," referring to the 2025 federal government shutdown.
Over the years, Snopes has covered a number of rumors related to the relationship between Trump and Epstein. Here are 19 of them:
Hutzler, Alexandra. "What Trump Has Said about Jeffrey Epstein over the Years, Including on 2024 Campaign Trail." ABC News, 16 July 2025, abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-jeffrey-epstein-years-including-2024-campaign-trail/story?id=123778541. Accessed 18 July 2025.
In July 2025, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson voted in favor of a bill with a projected $186 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides federal food benefits to roughly 42 million Americans.
A claim that circulated online in late October 2025 said U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson had months earlier signed President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," and that the bill purportedly slashed a projected $186 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program federal benefits.
The Department of Agriculture reported SNAP benefits help roughly 42 million Americans buy food. The program dates back to 1939, under the name of the Food Stamp Program.
Users shared this claim about the Louisiana Republican in the final days of October, amid shifting blame between Democrats and Republicans for the ongoing government shutdown. Top of mind for some politicians and consumers during the shutdown — uncertainty regarding whether millions of Americans would continue receiving SNAP benefits into November.
As an example of the claim, on Oct. 29, a user managing a Facebook page named The Resistance posted a meme (archived) with the caption, "Speaker Johnson 'deeply regrets' that millions of Americans will lose SNAP benefits this week, but 3 months ago, he signed a bill with $186 billion in cuts to SNAP. You can't make it make sense."
(The Resistance/Facebook)
The meme displayed attribution to California Democratic U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs' official X account, as well as a photo of Johnson and other Republicans showing thumbs up after passing the 2025 budget bill. Jacobs posted (archived) the same caption and photo of Republicans on Oct. 28.
In short, Johnson truly signed the budget bill after voting in favor of the legislation, as depicted in an authentic photo of Republicans giving thumbs up next to a desk where he added his signature. The Senate passed the bill July 1, followed by the House's passage July 3. Days earlier, on June 28, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had projected the bill would lead to nearly $186 billion in cuts to SNAP over the 10-year period from 2025 to 2034.
The nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported the projected cuts were the largest-ever to SNAP. It also reported that a previous version of the bill from May 2025 proposed an even larger figure of around $295 billion in cuts.
Snopes contacted Johnson's office by email to request comment regarding the claim and will update this article if we receive further information.
More on the bill's SNAP cuts
Prior to the passage of the budget bill, The Associated Press reported the CBO projected a third of the bill's SNAP cuts would shift costs to states, which administer the program to in-need Americans:
Legislation approved by Congress is projected to cut $186 billion in federal spending from SNAP over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
More than one-third of those savings come from expanded work requirements for SNAP participants, which the CBO assumes would force some people off the rolls. Another third comes by shifting costs to states, which administer SNAP.
Yet another provision in the legislation would cap the annual inflationary growth in food benefits, saving the federal government tens of billions of dollars by 2034.
In 2020, the CBPP highlighted the importance of SNAP not just to consumers but also to retailers and local economies. The organization specifically called SNAP "an important public-private partnership that helps families afford a basic diet, generates business for retailers and boosts local economies."
Amid uncertainty among federal food aid recipients heading into November, local TV stations WYSM in Michigan, WMUR in New Hampshire, KABB in Texas and other news media outlets reported SNAP recipients' potential lack of access to the program could hurt not just consumers but grocery stores, too, including in rural areas. KATU in Oregon also reported of a "growing need" at rural Oregon food banks following an October increase of families seeking assistance.
Johnson's 'deeply regrets' remark
Jacobs' mention of Johnson saying he "'deeply regrets' that millions of Americans will lose SNAP benefits" originated from reporting of a call between House Republicans.
On Oct. 28, Politico reported about the conversation during the call, including the "deeply regrets" quote. The outlet cited four anonymous sources. Snopes could not independently verify the quotes from the private call.
The Politico article read, in part (emphasis ours):
"Things are getting real" this week, Johnson said as he braced his members for some of the worst real-world fallout of the shutdown so far. He urged Republicans to stay in lockstep as "pressure mounts on Democrats" — including key deadlines that will impact millions of low-income Americans. Four people with direct knowledge of the call were granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
"The pain register is about to hit level 10," Johnson said, adding that "sadly" 42 million Americans will be hit this weekend when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits run out of money. "We deeply regret it on our side," he added, lambasting Democrats for their tactics.
For further reading, we previously reported that, during the government shutdown, Johnson said Republicans — who controlled the House, Senate and White House — weren't "in charge" of the government. He cited the Senate's 60-vote threshold.
"Estimated Budgetary Effects of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Relative to the Budget Enforcement Baseline for Consideration in the Senate." Congressional Budget Office, 28 Jun. 2025, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61533.
"Watch The Moment Mike Johnson Signs The Big Beautiful Bill After The House Passed It." YouTube, Forbes Breaking News, 3 Jul. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fslPwaI8tBs.
A look inside Egypt's newly unveiled Grand Egyptian Museum
After two decades and an estimated cost of $1bn, the Grand Egyptian Museum opens its doors to the public on Tuesday.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is regarded as the world's largest archaeological facility for a single civilisation [Mohamed Elshahed/Anadolu via Getty Images]
After two decades and an estimated cost of $1bn, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) opened its doors to the public on Tuesday, just a few days after the official opening ceremony on Saturday.
Regarded as the world's largest archaeological facility for a single civilisation, the museum is located 2km (1.2 miles) from the pyramids of Giza and 8km (5 miles) from the capital, Cairo.
The complex spans nearly 500,000sq metres (5,381,900sq ft) and will house more than 100,000 ancient artefacts from the 30 dynasties of ancient Egypt.
Some of the main attractions include the 3,200-year-old, 11.36-metre (37ft) statue of King Ramses II, the complete collection of Tutankhamun's treasures and a 4,500-year-old boat, one of the oldest intact ships in the world, belonging to Khufu, the pharaoh renowned for building the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The Grand Egyptian Museum's design
The museum has been called the "fourth pyramid" of the Giza Plateau, which is home to three pyramids about 4,500 years old: the Great Pyramid of Giza (built for Pharaoh Khufu), the Pyramid of Khafre (built for Pharaoh Khafre) and the Pyramid of Menkaure (built for Pharaoh Menkaure).
Visitors can view the pyramids from inside the museum, which is designed in the shape of a chamfered triangle, echoing the geometry of the pyramids. The museum's north and south walls are aligned with the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Menkaure.
The design, created by the Irish architecture firm Heneghan Peng, uses sand-coloured concrete and translucent alabaster stone while the museum's main facade is made of frosted glass panels.
The complex was announced in 1992, but construction did not begin until 2005 and was delayed by political turmoil after the 2011 Arab Spring and the COVID-19 pandemic. Some areas of the museum had a soft launch in 2024.
The Grand Egyptian Museum, also known as the Giza Museum, is located just 2km (1.2 miles) from the pyramids of Giza [Getty Images]
The museum complex includes the main building, a conference centre, a courtyard, a Nile Valley park, the Khufu Boat Museum and a conservation centre.
Exterior view of the Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza pyramid complex [File: Getty Images]
A look inside the museum
Upon entering the museum, visitors are greeted by the 3,200-year-old statue of King Ramses II, which weighs about 83 tonnes.
From 1954 to 2006, the statue stood in Ramses Square in front of Cairo's main train station before being relocated to its new location near the museum. To facilitate the move, the statue was transported upright and in one piece on a specially designed 128-wheel vehicle, covering a distance of 30km (19 miles) and necessitating temporary road closures.
Beyond the entrance is the six-storey grand staircase, lined with about 60 artefacts, including statues that honour deities, sarcophagi that hold the deceased, columns showcasing ancient architectural artistry,, and stelae inscribed with significant texts.
Visitors walk past ancient Egyptian statues along the grand staircase at the Grand Egyptian Museum during partial trial operation on October 15, 2024 [Sayed Hassan/Getty Images]
The museum boasts 12 main permanent exhibition halls, which opened last year and are organised by both era (ranging from prehistory through the Greco-Roman period) and theme (including society, kingship and belief).
The Tutankhamun gallery
Among the museum's most prominent and largest exhibition spaces is the Tutankhamun Gallery, a 7,500sq-metre (80,000sq-ft) space that features more than 5,000 artefacts unearthed from the tomb of Tutankhamun, the boy king who ascended to the throne at about nine years old and ruled during the Eighteenth Dynasty nearly 3,400 years ago.
Despite his brief reign, which ended with his unexpected death at about 18 or 19 years old, Tutankhamun is one of the most famous pharaohs, largely due to the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings on the west side of the Nile opposite the city of Luxor.
Visitors can see his golden mask, throne, sarcophagus, chariots and jewellery, all presented to re-create the atmosphere of his royal burial chamber.
One of the world's largest museums
The Grand Egyptian Museum has about 45,000sq metres (484,000sq ft) of exhibition space, making it the sixth largest museum in the world by display area.
The Louvre in Paris tops the list with 72,735sq metres, followed by the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia (66,842sq metres), the National Museum of China in Beijing (65,000sq metres), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (58,820sq metres) and the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain (47,700sq metres).
Tourism is a major source of foreign currency for Egypt. In 2024, a record 15.7 million tourists visited Egypt, and the travel and tourism sector contributed roughly 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to official figures.
An exhibit in the Grand Egyptian Museum [File: Mohamed Elshahed/Anadolu via Getty Images]
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