US president’s denial comes after White House said it would support a forensic analysis of the signature.

US President Donald Trump has repeated his denial that he penned a lascivious birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein amid sustained scrutiny of his links to the convicted sex offender.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Trump said the signature on the note to Epstein was not his.

“It’s not my signature, and it’s not the way I speak. And anybody that has covered me for a long time knows that’s not my language,” Trump said.

“It’s nonsense.”

Trump’s denial came after the White House said earlier that it would support a forensic analysis of the signature to prove it did not belong to the US president.

“The president did not write this letter. He did not sign this letter,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

The release of the note, contained in a 238-page scrapbook compiled to commemorate Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, has reignited long-simmering controversy over Trump’s connections to the late financier, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives published the suggestive letter on Monday after the scrapbook was turned over to lawmakers by Epstein’s estate.

The so-called “birthday book” also contains purported greetings from high-profile figures including former US President Bill Clinton, Apollo Global Management cofounder Leon Black, and former Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz.

Trump previously denied writing the letter, which features the sketched outline of a naked woman with the president’s purported signature in place of her pubic hair, after its existence was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in July.

Trump has sued the newspaper over the report, seeking at least $20bn in damages.

Trump has for months been dogged by questions about Epstein, including from some of his most ardent supporters.

Many members of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement reacted with outrage in July when a law enforcement review concluded that Epstein died by suicide and there was no credible evidence that he had kept a “client list” or blackmailed powerful figures.

Epstein, who had ties to some of the most prominent names in politics and business, has been the source of unproven theories for years, including that he was murdered to protect the existence of a sexual blackmail ring operated by US or foreign intelligence.

Many MAGA supporters had backed Trump’s re-election in the belief he would reveal Epstein’s involvement in a vast conspiracy implicating figures at the very highest levels of power.

Like many elite figures, Trump associated with Epstein during the 1990s and 2000s, once describing him as a “terrific guy” who liked women “on the younger side”.

Trump, who has denied having prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, has said the two men had a falling out more than two decades ago after the financier tried to hire young women away from his Mar-a-Lago resort.

An Israeli-Russian researcher has been released after “being tortured for many months” by her Iraqi militia abductors, US President Donald Trump has announced.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton student, whose sister is an American citizen, was just released by Kataib Hezbollah, and is now safely in the American embassy in Iraq”.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed Ms Tsurkov’s release shortly afterwards.

She had gone missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said several months later that she was being held by the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah.

In a post on X, Sudani said Ms Tsurkov’s release was “a culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months”.

He added that the security services on Tuesday were able to “uncover” the place the student had been held, before handing her over to the US embassy.

Ms Tsurkov entered Iraq on her Russian passport, Netanyahu’s office said at the time.

According to Ms Tsurkov’s website, her research focuses on the Levant – a historical term that refers to a large geographical region including present-day Israel, Syria and other areas – and “the Syrian uprising and civil war”.

Kataib Hezbollah (Brigades of the Party of God) is a powerful Iraqi Shia militia that gets financial and military support from Iran. It was designated by the US as a terrorist organisation in 2009.

In Tuesday’s post on Truth Social, Trump also said: “I will always fight for justice and never give up.

“Hamas, release the hostages, now!” he added, in a reference to those people seized by the Palestinian group during its deadly attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

London-listed miner Anglo American and Canada’s Teck Resources plan to merge, marking the sector’s second-biggest mergers and acquisitions deal ever and forging a new global copper-focused heavyweight.

Under the proposed deal, which will require regulatory approvals and was announced on Tuesday, Anglo American shareholders will own 62.4 percent of the new company, Anglo Teck, while shareholders in Teck would hold 37.6 percent.

Anglo Teck will be headquartered in Canada but have a primary stock listing in London, said the two companies whose combined market capitalisation exceeds $53bn.

The deal to form the world’s fifth-largest copper company is also a big bet on copper by Anglo. Glencore’s $90bn merger with Xstrata in 2013 remains the largest mining deal in history.

Copper, used in the power and construction sectors, is set to benefit from burgeoning demand spurred by electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.

Miners have raced to develop new projects, and there has been a flurry of takeover bids, though no major acquisition has so far succeeded.

Both Anglo and Teck have undergone significant restructuring in recent years, driven by external takeover attempts and strategic shifts within the mining industry.

On the potential of a bidding war for this deal, Teck CEO Jonathan Price told the Reuters news agency that the outcome was out of the company’s control.

Anglo faced a $53bn takeover bid from BHP last year that was ultimately rejected by its board. Teck rejected a $22.5bn takeover offer from Glencore in 2023, though it sold its steelmaking coal business to Glencore for $6.93bn.

“We cannot speculate on that [bidding war], and that is not something we can control. We are focused on getting approval for bringing Anglo and Teck together,” Teck’s Price said.

He said the deal creates “a much larger and much better, higher-quality copper, iron ore, and zinc business”, for shareholders.

“I think the deal itself is a very strong defence,” said one source with knowledge of the negotiations between Anglo and Teck.

The transaction has a zero-premium, all-share structure.

That lack of a premium could open the door to rival bids, but Anglo’s shareholders will receive a $4.5bn special dividend.

“Interloper risk will be a big question for the market on this deal,” Berenberg analysts wrote in a note, adding that Glencore and BHP, notably, could still step in.

While Anglo and Teck can still consider unsolicited acquisition proposals, a $330m break fee would apply.

“This is a consolidation that makes sense and brings complementary cultures together,” said Adam Matthews of the Church of England Pensions Board, an Anglo shareholder.

“Both companies are ones we hold high regard for, and the industry will be stronger for this move,” he said.

Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad will retain that post in the new company, while Teck’s Jonathan Price will be deputy CEO.

Wanblad, speaking to journalists from Vancouver, called the deal a “true merger of equals”, adding that Anglo Teck’s board would be drawn equally from the two companies’ existing directors.

“We will have a stronger, more resilient financial platform with scale advantages, including greater flexibility to reallocate capital dynamically to the highest returning opportunities,” he said.

Cost savings

The tie-up is expected to generate annual cost savings and efficiency gains of $800m by the fourth year after completion, Anglo said.

“As a merger, we absolutely get to draw on the best of both, and we don’t really need to pay away anything on either side in terms of premium to get the full benefit,” Wanblad said.

The two companies operate adjacent copper mines in Chile – Quebrada Blanca and Collahuasi – which is expected to deliver further operational benefits.

Quebrada Blanca is Teck’s flagship mine, but a tailings issue that relates to the disposal of mine waste has seen it miss production guidance, dragging down the company’s shares.

Teck’s Price said securing the regulatory approvals for the deal could take between 12 and 18 months. He added that Canada’s Keevil family, which owns a majority of Teck’s A-class shares, backed the deal.

“We have irrevocable support from Dr. [Norman] Keevil and the other A-share voters,” he said.

A source close to the deal said that the decision to maintain the new company’s headquarters in Canada, safeguarding Teck’s “Canadian legacy”, would likely help ease the way for regulatory approval by authorities there.

Canadian officials had shown hostility to Glencore’s previous bid to acquire Teck, and the source said such concessions in the new deal could help fend off rival bids from companies unwilling to include similar proposals.