Ex-White House Aide Reveals Why Trump's 'Panicking Right Now'
'He has to be panicking right now,' Sarah Matthews, who served as a press aide during the first Trump administration, said on MSNBC on Sunday.
Trump's message on Truth Social was a sign of that panic as the president fired back at supporters who are angry after the Justice Department said last week that a long-rumored list of Epstein clients doesn't exist.
Trump complained that Epstein is 'a guy who never dies' and urged supporters to move on and focus on what he has accomplished instead.
'Let's keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about,' Trump wrote.
But Matthews doesn't think that post will help.
'The thing is, is that he campaigned on this,' she said. 'He said that he was going to release the list and now his supporters are asking him to follow up and follow through.'
Trump, Vice President JD Vance and many within Trump's orbit made the release of the list a central talking point. Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the list was on her desk for review as part of a 'directive by President Trump.'
But now, Bondi said there is no list ― and even many hardcore MAGA supporters don't believe it.
Former Trump ally Elon Musk said last month the reason Trump won't release the Epstein files is because Trump himself is in them.
With the story not going away, Matthews said Trump will likely turn to his favorite tactic: distraction.
'If I had to make a prediction, I think that he is going to try to shift the news cycle this week by either saying something very controversial or doing something controversial,' she said. 'Because he does not want us to be talking about Jeffrey Epstein.'
See the full MSNBC conversation below:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
20 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Economic Case For Going Green
| Aug 14, 2025, 11:45PM EDT Tom Steyer, Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, sits down with Assistant Managing Editor Steven Bertoni to discuss his bold plan to back market-based solutions to fight climate change.
CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
Chicagoans protest over President Trump's deployment of National Guard in D.C.
A new policy connected to President Trump's deployment of National Guard troops for public safety is sparking protests in Chicago and around the country. National Guard troops have hit the streets in Washington, D.C., and are now patrolling at President Trump's direction. For the first time in U.S. history, police in the nation's capital are now under federal control. "People are so happy to see our military going into D.C. and getting these thugs out," President Trump said Thursday. On Thursday, a group gathered in Chicago's Federal Plaza and marched to protest the move, and President Trump's talk of similar moves in Chicago. Meanwhile, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said violent crime in her city has reached its lowest levels in three decades. "Right now, we have more police, and we want to make sure we use them," said Bowser. Some D.C. residents strongly disagree with the idea too. "But this sort of display is not designed to, you know, stop gun violence," said D.C. resident Marc Bernstein. "It's not designed to stop the drug trade. It's designed to intimidate people." "We can always use more police, right?" aid D.C. business owner Darrell Gaston. "But I think having police officers that are from the community, that are trained locally, is much different than having a federal police that's not trained in community policing." President Trump has also threatened to send troops to Chicago, and although he does not have the authority to do so, he has also vowed to end Illinois' cashless bail system. "I'm calling on every Chicagoan every Illinoisan to resist returning to policies that lock up poor mostly Black and brown people simply because they cannot afford bail," said the Rev. Charles Straight. President Trump also does not have the same authority to deploy troops in Illinois as he does in D.C.
CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
Candidates make the case to be Fort Worth's new police chief
Nydia Cardenas and Adrianne Collins came to Fort Worth City Hall to evaluate three men vying for the position of police chief: Robert Allredge Jr., Eddie Garcia, and Vernon Hale. During a meet-and-greet on Thursday, the two friends had the opportunity to meet all three and ask questions. "My question's kind of focused just around leadership," Collins said. "Each one of them had kind of some similarities in their background with some differences." Collins believes Fort Worth is in a good place, and she wants to see it advance. Cardenas had concerns about how the chief would handle the new, intense ICE apprehensions. "I feel like each candidate is very different in their style," Cardenas said. "And I felt like each of them had a very different sort of reaction and way of thinking about that." Allredge is the interim chief of police for the Fort Worth Police Department. Garcia, a former Dallas police chief, is an assistant city manager. Hale, a past deputy chief at Dallas PD, is the assistant police chief in Prince George's County, Maryland. All three met with Mayor Mattie Parker and City Council members before Thursday evening's meet-and-greet and forum. During the forum, city organizers narrowed down more than 80 questions submitted by community members to at least 12 categories: crisis media management, data-driven success, community relations and civil rights, police oversight, priorities, and commitment to staying on the job. "My commitment is I'm an old man now, so this is the last police chief job I will have," Hale said. "I can assure you that. But if the relationship between me and the community and the elected officials is still mutually beneficial for both of us, then we'll be here for the long haul." Allredge spoke of his love for the FWPD and the city. "I wasn't looking for another chief job. That's not what I'm about. My career is here in Fort Worth, that's what my commitment has been," Allredge said. "I've been here for 26 years and I don't plan on going anywhere else. I love this community. I love the officers. I love our professional staff, I love our volunteers. I love the city leaders. I love everything about it." Garcia retired from the Dallas Police Department less than a year ago to take a step up as an assistant city manager overseeing public safety. Now, he said, quality of life is calling him back to North Texas. "I'm a cop. I want to come back to North Texas. This is where I first was shown Texas when I got here from California. My daughter lives here," he said. Garcia said his mother also lives in North Texas. "She's getting older. I need to be closer. I want to be here. I want to stay here. I have no limit to how long that I will be here," Garcia said. "I'm not as young as I used to be, but I still have a lot of energy and I have a lot more to give." The candidates will meet with the city manager and other city leaders on Friday. In the meantime, Cardenas and Collins are evaluating their choice. "I still feel like there's more information," Collins said. "Beyond in the three-minute conversation, there's some more digging, I feel like, that I need to do." Cardenas wishes the city had taken the candidates into the Fort Worth community beyond Thursday's event. "I think if they were actually trying to have a process informed by community, there would have been more of these and more in community centers," she said.
