Donald Trump targets Beyoncé, Kamala Harris, Oprah, escalates distraction campaign amid Epstein files pressure
In his post, Mr Trump alleges that Democrats paid 'Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!),' he said.'Three Million Dollars for 'expenses' to Oprah, Six Hundred Thousand Dollars to very low rated TV 'anchor,' Al Sharpton (a total lightweight!), and others to be named for doing, absolutely NOTHING!'
He goes on to claim, 'YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO. Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted!'
The claims, unsupported by any public evidence and not corroborated by campaign filings or independent fact-checkers, come at a time when Mr Trump faces intensifying scrutiny over his own dealings, especially renewed attention to his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and demands from both supporters and critics for full disclosure of the 'Epstein files.'
Jeffrey Epstein was a wealthy financier charged with operating a sex trafficking ring that exploited dozens of underage girls for sexual abuse, including recruiting victims from multiple countries, before he died in jail awaiting trial in 2019.
The release of the Epstein files has been highly anticipated, with many hoping the documents will reveal new information about powerful individuals connected to Epstein's trafficking network and shed light on unresolved questions about his death.
Mr Trump's latest social media outburst follows a pattern of rapid-fire postings unrelated to the mounting questions about Epstein's death and Mr Trump's own actions.
This includes recent Truth Social posts ranging from attacking US agency officials and Washington football team branding, to sharing AI-generated videos of Barack Obama's fictional arrest and promoting unrelated government document dumps.
Republican strategists and political analysts note that such diversions are typical of Mr Trump's tried-and-tested playbook: generating new controversies or provoking media outrage in an effort to overwhelm coverage of more damaging topics.
'As controversy over Epstein refuses to die down, Mr Trump and his inner circle have repeatedly tried to pivot public attention to new outrages,' said Republican strategist Alex Conant in a recent interview.
'Nobody turns the page better than Donald Trump. His entire first term was constantly changing narratives… this is different because he's in a real fight with his base.'
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Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. 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