A dead, disgraced financier is testing one of President Donald Trump’s political superpowers: his ability to persevere through any negative news cycle.
Trump understands how easily distracted the media is and how fickle readers, viewers, and voters can be, better than any leader in modern American political history.
That is how the tabloid celebrity businessman turned reality TV star turned two-term president and decadelong leader of the Republican Party has survived two impeachments, a general election loss, numerous indictments across multiple jurisdictions, a felony conviction, two assasination attempts, and countless media firestorms from Access Hollywood to the Elon Musk feud that might have been career-endangering for a mere mortal.
Trump has even watched the stock market more or less get used to his tariffs and unpredictable approach to international trade negotiations, weathering predictions that he was about to crash both the economy and his presidency.
But the political Houdini who has managed seemingly thousands of death-defying escapes has yet to wriggle free from the Jeffrey Epstein mess. Many of his supporters believe Epstein, who died in custody while a child trafficking suspect, is part of a larger conspiracy involving other rich and powerful people.
True, it has only been a few days since the administration became enmeshed in this, just a fraction of the time it took for special counsel Robert Mueller to conclude his Trump-Russia investigation and issue a relatively anticlimactic report that failed to produce an impeachment inquiry. Trump spent two years, or half his first term, dealing with a Democratic-controlled House led by Nancy Pelosi.
Nevertheless, each time Trump appears to have quelled the MAGA revolt over Epstein, it returns to the headlines. At least some polling supports the idea that this is more than a purely online, influencer-fueled phenomenon.
Trump has downplayed the Epstein matter ever since the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, appeared to declare the matter closed on July 7.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years,” Trump said when the question came up during a Cabinet meeting last week. “Are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”
“I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, when we’re having some of the greatest success, and also tragedy with what happened in Texas,” he added. “It just seems like a desecration.”
Many Trump supporters believe there is a cover-up going on and want as much information released publicly as possible.
While Trump has said Bondi should release anything about Epstein that she deems credible, he added on Tuesday that “these files were made up by [former FBI Director James] Comey, they were made up by [former President Barack] Obama, they were made up by the Biden [administration],” equating the Epstein files many on his team vowed to release with the Trump-Russia matter his supporters regard as a hoax. “We went through years of that, with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, with all of the different things that we had to go through, we’ve gone through years of it.”
That didn’t tamp down the matter, especially online. Trump said Bondi has “handled it very well, and it’s going to be up to her. Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”
When given the choice, activists at a Turning Points USA event over the weekend overwhelmingly picked FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino over Bondi. Bongino has reportedly been feuding with the attorney general over how the documents and Epstein’s messaging have been handled.
The risk for Trump is that for the first time, some of his supporters will see him as a defender, perhaps even a beneficiary, of a rigged system rather than a victim of one. The belief that he stands apart from the system and is willing to challenge it on behalf of the little guy has been central to his appeal for over a decade.
Former Trump ally Elon Musk has publicly accused the president of being mentioned in the Epstein files. Musk later said that he went too far in his attacks on Trump, but didn’t specify which criticisms he meant. For Democrats and Never Trumpers, the salacious speculation has become the new “pee tape.”
The Justice Department has said Epstein didn’t keep a client list and reaffirmed he committed suicide in 2019 during Trump’s first term.
Trump has been subject to virtually every political attack imaginable, which makes many skeptical of the claims surrounding Epstein’s files, though the two ultra-wealthy men knew each other.
DEMOCRATS SEE OPENING WITH EPSTEIN FILES TO DRIVE WEDGE BETWEEN TRUMP AND MAGA
The president does appear to have calmed the infighting within his administration over this matter. Except for Musk, there has been much less publicly visible conflict in the second Trump White House than the first. Trump may yet know what to say to get his voters to turn their attention elsewhere.
In the meantime, Trump finds himself in an unusual position: the star of a show he would prefer to see canceled.