The 'Epstein files' scandal dogging Trump

"It's hard not to chuckle at the mess the Trump administration has made for itself" over Jeffrey Epstein, said Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times. For years, the president and his allies stoked conspiracy theories about the disgraced financier, who was found dead in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls.

Back in his days as a podcaster, Dan Bongino, now deputy director of the FBI, was among those who insisted that Epstein was murdered by the deep state and that the release of a "client list" would expose a cabal of elite, liberal paedophiles. In February, Pam Bondi, Trump's attorney general, claimed that the client list was "sitting on my desk". All, it seemed, was about to be revealed.

But then, this month, officials abruptly announced that there was no evidence to support the conspiracy theories. Epstein had died by suicide; Bondi had been referring to his case file, not a client list. In response, "Maga world went bonkers". Furious right-wingers accused Trump of a cover-up. Maga hats were ritually burned. The monster he created has turned on him.

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Promises discarded

So it seems there are limits, after all, to Trump's hold over his fanbase, said Jonathan Chait in The Atlantic. Until now, they have seemed to believe anything he told them. A journalist or politician could "go from Well Respected to Failing Loser and back again as many times as needed". Promises could be made, then discarded.

But there has been no appeasing Maga fury over the Epstein reversal. Trump hit back, blaming "weaklings" for wasting time on a "bullshit" issue, saying he didn't "want their support any more". He also floated a new, clearly contradictory, line of defence: the Epstein files "did exist, but they were anti-Trump disinformation created by Democrats". But none of the usual tactics worked this time – his fans "just grew angrier".

Trump will struggle to shake off this scandal, said Andrew Day in The American Conservative. He and Epstein were friends for more than a decade, so the media will keep turning up awkward facts. Last week The Wall Street Journal ran a story about a lewd 50th birthday message that Trump allegedly sent to Epstein, with a doodle of a naked woman, signed off with the words: "May every day be another wonderful secret." Trump insisted the card was a "fake" and has now sued.

Breach will never fully heal

Trump's best course is to make all the records public. Transparency would help, said National Review. It's hard to understand, for instance, why Epstein's autopsy report hasn't been released. Trump has now asked for court documents to be published, but with many victims and witnesses still alive, and Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell still appealing, care will need to be taken about revealing legally sensitive information.

The breach between Trump and his Maga fans will never fully heal, said Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal. This is the third recent disagreement between him and his base, which also opposed his bombing of Iran and his decision to restore aid to Ukraine.

The Epstein row is by far the most serious, said Matt Ford in The New Republic. It threatens to destroy a key mythology that Trump supporters have built around him since he entered politics. The Maga movement contains many people who are genuinely convinced that their opponents – Democratic politicians, liberal media figures, left-wing billionaires – belong to a secret child-abuse ring. The QAnon conspiracy theory holds that Trump is part of a clandestine organisation working to root out this cabal, and that he's destined to expose the paedophiles on a day known as "the Storm", and bring them to justice. The Epstein row has shattered this myth. Trump is no longer the crusader – "just another politician looking to get out of a jam".