ADVERTISEMENT

AP Afternoon Wire

Advancing the Power of Facts

Policy changes, but facts endure. AP delivers accurate, fact-based journalism to keep the world informed in every administration. Support independent reporting today. Donate.

Good afternoon and welcome to your afternoon news update from AP. Today, a sweeping oral history of the Obama presidency recounts his team’s blind spot on Trump; billionaire Les Wexner says he was “duped” by adviser Jeffrey Epstein; and highlights from Day 12 at the Winter Olympics.

UP FIRST

From left, Michelle Obama, Sasha Obama and Barack Obama pose for a photo before the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A ‘clown’ who wouldn’t go away: Inside the Obama team’s blind spot on Trump

For eight years, President Barack Obama’s aides marveled that no amount of mockery, dismissal or scandal could make Donald Trump go away. Their bewilderment is threaded through hundreds of interviews with administration officials released Tuesday in a far-reaching oral history of the Obama presidency. They admit in the project that they misread Trump’s resilience. Read more.

TOP STORIES

Billionaire Les Wexner says he was ‘duped’ by adviser Jeffrey Epstein, ‘a world-class con man’

The billionaire behind the retail empire that once blanketed shopping malls with names such as Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch is telling members of Congress that he was “duped by a world-class con man” — close financial adviser Jeffrey Epstein. Les Wexner also is denying knowing about the convicted sex offender’s crimes or participating in Epstein’s abuse of girls and young women. Read more.

Vonn, Shiffrin and Brignone among the Olympic skiers voicing concern over receding glaciers

Team USA skiers Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, along with Italy’s Federica Brignone, are among the many skiers who have expressed concern during these Olympic Games about the accelerating melt of the world’s glaciers. And Olympic host city Cortina is a fitting place for them to be talking about climate change: Glaciers once visible from town have dramatically shrunk. Read more.

ADVERTISEMENT

IN OTHER NEWS

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with then-Commander in Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukraine: Former army chief seen as Zelenskyy’s top rival reveals to AP a rift between them

California: Eight backcountry skiers found dead and 1 still missing after avalanche

‘This day is long overdue’: New Jersey Catholic diocese agrees to $180 million settlement of clergy sexual abuse allegations

Proposed settlement: Bayer strikes $7.25 billion deal to settle Roundup cancer lawsuits

Mehdi Mahmoudian: Oscar-nominated co-writer of ‘It Was Just an Accident’ released from Iranian prison

Lac La Belle: Searchers find wreck of luxury steamer lost in Lake Michigan more than 150 years ago

Photo highlights: