Trump and the Epstein files, UBS speculation, and nuclear tests

UBS Tower in Nashville, Tennessee. Keystone/Swissnfo

Welcome to our press review of events in the United States. Every Wednesday we look at how the Swiss media have reported and reacted to three major stories in the US – in politics, finance and science.

The big political news in Switzerland this week was the announcement on Friday of a trade deal with the US: tariffs on Swiss imports will be reduced from 39% to 15% in return for considerable investments by Swiss companies.

In the US, however, the big political news has been the possible release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, something US President Donald Trump had opposed for months before changing his mind at the weekend. What’s the Swiss take on Trump’s U-turn?

This week I also look at the latest development in UBS’s speculated move to the US, and Trump’s decision to start testing nuclear weapons again.

Statues of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, made by free speech advocates, stand on the National Mall near the Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 23. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

After a lot of twists and turns, the publication of the so-called Epstein files is getting closer, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported on Wednesday. “Do they contain political dynamite or not?” it wanted to know.

On Tuesday the Republican-controlled Congress voted almost unanimously to force the release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an outcome President Donald Trump had fought for months before performing a U-turn on Sunday.

“When he realised that enough Republicans would vote in favour of publication, the president himself went on the offensive and spoke out in favour of publication. He failed to sweep the issue under the carpet and dismiss it as a trivial side note,” SRF wrote.

The Epstein scandal has been a thorn in Trump’s side for months. Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019.

For the Tages-Anzeiger in Zurich, Trump’s U-turn was an attempted “rescue move” but in fact it made him look “desperate”.

“Writing ‘I don’t care!’ in capital letters gives the opposite impression,” the paper said in an editorial on Monday. “After months of resistance, nobody believes that Trump doesn’t care about the publication of the files anyway. Moreover, it’s absurd to call on politicians to instruct the government to release the files: Trump could publish them at any time. He doesn’t need an order from Congress to do so.”

The Tages-Anzeiger added that the verbal U-turn was unlikely to convince even Trump’s supporters. “They believe almost everything the president says. However, they are sceptical about the Epstein case, which concerns the abuse of minors. Only the publication of the files would therefore serve as a liberating blow. Anything else feeds the suspicion that they actually contain explosive information – or at least something that is unpleasant for Trump.”

The bill requires that all Epstein files be made public within 30 days of Trump signing the law. This allows the Department of Justice to review the documents for sensitive information and make redactions.

• Epstein file explainerExternal link – SRF (German)

• The latest Epstein coverage by RTSExternal link (French) and the Neue Zürcher ZeitungExternal link (German, paywall)

• Epstein victims win a victory – but the files are not yet publicExternal link – Tages-Anzeiger (German, paywall)

• Trump repeats he had ‘nothing to do’ with Jeffrey EpsteinExternal link – Tribune de Genève (French)

• Tages-Anzeiger editorialExternal link (German, paywall)

Dark clouds over Paradeplatz, the Swiss financial centre, in Zurich. Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella

Will it? Won’t it? Rumours have circulated for months that Swiss bank UBS is going to move its headquarters to the United States if the Swiss government doesn’t back down on new capital rules. On Monday it was revealed that UBS chair Colm Kelleher and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent had privately discussed the issue.

The Trump administration was “receptive to welcoming one of Switzerland’s most prized assets”, said the Financial Times, which broke the news, quoting “three people familiar with the conversation”.

UBS’s official position hadn’t changed: “As we have said repeatedly, we want to continue to operate successfully as a global bank out of Switzerland.”

Thomas Jordan, former chairman of the Swiss National Bank, told Swiss public television SRF on Tuesday that he couldn’t judge whether such a move by UBS was realistic, but he was clear that “the important thing is not to make threats like this”. He said there needed to be an objective dialogue between the government and the bank about the capital adequacy regulations, without emotions. Stability is needed on the one hand, and a viable financial sector on the other. “This is not only important for UBS and the financial sector, but for the entire economy,” Jordan said.

“UBS is just as likely to leave Switzerland as the billionaires” – that is, it will stay – according to an analysis by tippinpoint.ch, a website on financial and sustainability news. “If politicians and commentators are to be believed, suitcases are currently being packed in Switzerland – by UBS staff and by billionaires. As with the customs dispute with the US, it would be nice to see more backbone and less panic,” it wrote on Tuesday.

It remembered how similar reports in the New York Post last month hadn’t generated much outrage “partly because the messenger’s strengths lay in tabloid tittle tattle”. So is it serious now that the FT is covering it? “Hardly. Because on the crucial issue of capital adequacy requirements for Switzerland’s last major global bank, UBS’s unprecedented lobbying is likely to be successful,” tippinpoint.ch wrote. “The political wind seems to be changing.”

• UBS chair talked to Scott Bessent about moving bank to US – Swissinfo via the Financial Times

• Coverage by RTSExternal link (French), 24heuresExternal link (French) the Tages-AnzeigerExternal link (German) and BlickExternal link (German)

• Interview with Thomas JordanExternal link – SRF (German)

• Analysis by tippinpoint.chExternal link (German)

A mushroom cloud rises from a test blast at the Nevada Test Site on June 24, 1957. Keystone

The United States and Russia are discussing testing nuclear weapons again. “Almost everything is completely unclear,” said Swiss public radio, SRF, which asked an expert on nuclear threats and deterrence to shed some light on the issue.

“A new era of nuclear irrationality looms,” warned the Tages-Anzeiger a couple of weeks ago, just after US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 1992. Since then, most nuclear-armed countries have carried out simulated nuclear explosions using high-powered computers.

On Monday, SRF wondered whether, if these simulations meant actual tests were no longer necessary, the latest announcements by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were just a bit of muscle-flexing?

“First, we don’t know exactly what Donald Trump means – he says something, then he corrects his statement, then he repeats himself,” said Liviu Horovitz, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. “His minister, who is responsible for nuclear weapons, says no tests are necessary. The military says no tests are necessary. So we don’t know what’s going on.”

Not exactly reassured, SRF asked whether a new nuclear arms race was dawning. “The nuclear states have been modernising and expanding their arsenals for several years. So this is nothing new. And Trump’s statement will hardly change that,” Horowitz said. “However, if the US were to actually carry out nuclear explosions for test purposes, other countries would probably do the same. This in turn would benefit countries such as China or North Korea more than the US – the two states have so far carried out far fewer explosion tests than the US or Russia.”

The Tages-Anzeiger was more direct: “A new nuclear arms race is emerging, the escalation risks of which are not yet foreseeable.”

• Interview with Liviu HorovitzExternal link – SRF (German)

• ‘A new era of nuclear irrationality looms’External link – Tages-Anzeiger editorial (German, paywall)

• Trump announces the resumption of nuclear weapons testsExternal link – Neue Zürcher Zeitung (German, paywall)

The next edition of ‘Swiss views of US news’ will be published on Wednesday, November 26. See you then!

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