Epstein backlash reveals Trump as a hostage of the MAGA movement

Donald Trump is the creator of the MAGA brand, but the backlash over his handling of the Epstein files shows the President is also a hostage to his own political movement – not just a leader

Joe Kelly

US President Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

4 min read

8 hours ago.

Updated 7 hours ago

Donald Trump is the victim of his own success. The US President is feeling the heat from a MAGA base outraged at his failure to release files from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation.

Trump and his key allies including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino stoked interest in the Epstein case, fuelled perceptions of a more expansive elite cover-up and hyped the release of a “client list” that could implicate powerful establishment figures.

Now they are the hostages of the movement they encouraged.

On July 6, the Department of Justice and FBI said there was no client list and that it was not appropriate to disclose any further files – a decision that prompted an outcry and backlash in Trump heartland.

Trying to regain momentum, the US President is attempting to whip up a fresh MAGA myth about the Russia hoax – although this latest effort is unlikely to fool anyone.

In his Tuesday Oval Office meeting to discuss security and a new trade deal with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Trump sensationally accused former US president Barack Obama of “treason” and declared that it was “time to go after people”.

Trump pointed to the release on Friday of a trove of documents by his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, which she said contained overwhelming evidence of a “years-long coup” against him.

The administration argues the documents show how, after the 2016 election, Obama and his national security team “manufactured and politicised intelligence” to create a narrative that Russia had influenced the outcome.

“Obama’s been caught directly,” Trump said on Tuesday. “He’s guilty. This was treason ... Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader.

“Hillary Clinton was right there with him and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them: (former FBI director James) Comey, (former director of National Intelligence James) Clapper, the whole group.

“This is like proof, irrefutable proof that Obama was seditious, that Obama led, was trying to lead a coup – and it was with Hillary Clinton, with all these other people. But Obama headed it up.

“This is the biggest scandal in the history of our country.”

This reveals Trump in full campaign mode as he attempts to refocus the attention of the MAGA faithful around a new political lightning rod.

Mr Trump has been accused of trying to deflect from the Epstein files by making wild claims against Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Picture: AFP

But this latest attempt to galvanise his base lacks authenticity – usually one of Trump’s key strengths.

The giveaway came when Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking just down the road at the US Congress, sketched out his plans to cut short the legislative agenda and send the House home early for the summer.

The reason? Republicans are trying to dodge votes this week requiring the administration to release the remaining files from the Epstein case.

There is also no doubt that the documents released by Gabbard clearly show Russia waged an interference campaign aimed at assisting Trump during the 2016 US presidential election.

While there is no evidence of cyber manipulation by Moscow of election infrastructure intended to alter results, the Russian efforts were instead directed at undermining public faith in the US democratic process, denigrating Hillary Clinton and harming her electability.

However, it’s not just the Epstein saga which is concerning the true “America First” believers – it was also the recent US strikes on Iran which raised the prospect of the US becoming entangled in another foreign conflict.

An undated picture of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. Picture: Getty Images

Some of Trump’s most prominent supporters have started to criticise his administration, including Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, his former political adviser Steve Bannon and right-wing commentators such as Tucker Carlson.

This is new territory in the Trump 2.0 era and the US President is feeling the pressure. He appears not to understand the anger being directed at him.

“We had the Greatest Six Months of any President in the History of our Country, and all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax!” he posted on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.

To stem the backlash, Trump directed Attorney-General Pam Bondi last week to request the unsealing of grand jury testimony from Epstein’s criminal case.

But securing an acceptable outcome for the MAGA base may prove challenging, with two federal judges in Manhattan – Richard M. Berman and Paul A. Engelmayer – responding on Tuesday to motions filed by Bondi.

They noted the release of the records could create privacy issues and asked the government to set out the “special circumstances” justifying their release.

In another bid to placate the critics, the Department of Justice is also touting its efforts to try to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s confidante and accomplice.

Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche said he was making contact with counsel for Maxwell and that, “until now, no administration on behalf of the department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government”.

“That changes now,” he said.

In their July 6 statement, the DoJ and FBI concluded that Epstein “committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York City on August 10, 2019.”

The agencies said they conducted an “exhaustive review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein”, much of which was “subject to court-ordered sealing”.

“Only a fraction of this material would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial, as the seal served only to protect victims and did not expose any additional third parties to allegations of illegal wrongdoing,” they said.

“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”

While these conclusions may sound reasonable, they are not accepted by the political movement Trump created.

As the originator of the MAGA political constituency, the US President has now found himself following rather than leading his own creation.