Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with how his administration’s handling of the furor around the Jeffrey Epstein files has dominated the news and overshadowed his agenda, said two people familiar with his thinking.

His exasperation follows weeks of missteps and no clear strategy among top officials who underestimated the outrage, especially from the president’s base, and hoped the country would forget about the unreleased Epstein files and move on, according to nearly a dozen people close to the situation, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal deliberations.

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20250727232646/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/07/27/justice-epstein-memo-bondi-blanche-patel-trump/

  • modestmeme@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Keep talking about it. Don’t let Epstein fade from the national discourse. Not just over Trump but all those fuckers on the list.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      While I agree, especially to his face, it’s not going to fade away.

      trump didn’t build the q conspiracy and all the other conspiracy groups that became his most motivated base. He’s just surfing their wave.

      If the most extreme of his followers flip, he’s fucked because without them pushing his narrative religiously he can’t maintain the rest. And they’re not going to stop talking about Epstein

        • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
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          We’re talking about some of the most mental ill followers from an extremely mentally ill cult.

          If they turn against Trump, the most likely scenario is that they go more auth/fascist or batshit insane. Trump will probably pardon Ghislaine and prosecute a sham list of political opponents; they will fall in line.

  • Idontopenenvelopes@lemmy.world
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    He’s working on having G Maxwell name some names , but not his name. He will use this to purge political opponents, while consolidating power and avoiding any direct heat on him self. His retarded base will be pacified , and he will get away with it unless someone leaks the footage of him SA kids, it will all be forgotten.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    Its called the streisand effect! Keep talking about it, and telling people to move on, and they will keep shining a spotlight on it.

  • Tony Bark@pawb.socialOP
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    I think what makes this difficult for MAGA is that if we see Democrats are on the list, lock 'em up. We don’t care about party. I believe that takes away Trump’s only leverage.

  • selkiesidhe@sh.itjust.works
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    What’s funny is nothing will change if he release the Epstein files. MAGAts are still gonna lust after a geriatric mentally stunted PoS, and now they’ll suddenly be like well 12 is old enough I guess. Now if those girls were 10 then maybe it’d be bad…

  • neoman4426@fedia.io
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    What’s wild is, if he just released it, even if it showed he was in fact the number one guy, even more involved than Epstein himself, not a single one of his worshipers would care about that. He’s the infallible god king, they’d say his part was a necessary and good thing. They’re just mad that he’s holding out on them and not giving them dirt on the ‘evil Democrats’.

    • g0nz0li0@piefed.social
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      I mean, it has to be really bad right? At this point not releasing it is a terrible option unless it’s a smoking gun that outright demonstrates he’s been inappropriate with minors. He’s taking on water over this, the alternate must be worse.

    • athairmor@lemmy.world
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      If his approval rating drops below 30% I’ll fly to Washington D.C. and walk down the mall naked flagellating myself with a dozen MAGA hats.

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    TRUMP BLASTS OBAMA AND CLINTON OVER EPSTEIN CONNECTIONS: “THEY’RE RESPONSIBLE, NOT ME!”

    NEW YORK, NY — Former President Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on his political rivals, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, claiming that they are the ones truly responsible for the infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein’s actions, not him.

    In a fiery statement released earlier today, Trump called out both Obama and Clinton for their “connections” to Epstein, saying, “Look, folks, we all know who was REALLY involved. It wasn’t me. It was Obama and Clinton. These two are as deep in Epstein’s world as anyone, and now they want to pretend they didn’t know what was going on? Please.”

    Trump pointed to the well-known history of Epstein’s association with the Clinton family, calling it “a total disaster.” “Bill Clintonwas flying around on Epstein ’s private plane, heading to his private island. You can’t get any more involved than that, folks. It’s absolutely unbelievable, but they think they can cover it up. Not on my watch.”

    As for Obama, Trump didn’t hold back, accusing the former president of turning a blind eye to Epstein’s behavior. “Obama might act all holier-than-thou now, but let’s not forget, he had Epstein at the White House. He had him over for parties, events – you name it. They probably even had pizza. Big, fancy pizza parties. And guess what? I wasn’t invited. But now, they want to throw the blame on me? Not happening. By the way, at least I never wore a tan suit at any events. Never.”

    Trump then added a nod to a notorious moment during Obama’s presidency. “And let’s not forget the Grey Poupon moment. That mustard incident. I was never a fan of the fancy mustard, folks. A real leader knows that you don’t need that stuff. Just a little ketchup. But Obama and Clinton, they want to act like they didn’t know what was happening with Epstein, like they’re innocent in all of this. I think we all know the truth.”

    Trump concluded by adding, “Let’s be real here: I’m not responsible for Epstein’s terrible actions. The Clintons and Obama are the ones who need to answer the tough questions. If the media had any guts, they’d focus on that.”

    • alaphic@lemmy.world
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      I honestly can’t tell if this is something you just made up or a real article, though I’m leaning toward the former because Trump sounds a little too coherent

    • ccunning@lemmy.world
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      “Bill Clinton was flying around on Epstein ’s private plane, heading to his private island. You can’t get any more involved than that, folks. It’s absolutely unbelievable, but they think they can cover it up. Not on my watch.”

      Release the files!

    • Dragomus@lemmy.world
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      Every accusation is an admission…

      "As for Obama, Trump didn’t hold back, accusing the former president of turning a blind eye to Epstein’s behavior. “Obama might act all holier-than-thou now, but let’s not forget, he had Epstein at the White House. He had him over for parties, events – you name it. They probably even had pizza. Big, fancy pizza parties. And guess what? I wasn’t invited. But now, they want to throw the blame on me? Not happening. By the way, at least I never wore a tan suit at any events. Never.”

      • Butthurt for not being invited to fancy pizza parties.
      • Trump has held McDonald’s “parties” both in the White House and Air Force One.
      • Trump wore a blue suit to a funeral, stood out like a sore blue-orange thumb.
      • Trump invited insurrectionist and other felons to the white house.
      • What about the secret-documents-parties at Mar-a-lago that Trump organized?
    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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      They probably even had pizza. Big, fancy pizza parties.

      Wow, going right in for the pizzagaters. That’s just hilariously desperate.

      • the_tab_key@lemmy.world
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        I burst out laughing on that line. It just so… ridiculous. Like 7th grade gossip

        Did you hear that Barak and Jeffrey hung out recently?! I bet they had pizza! Ewww, gross! Now they both have cooties!