Maureen Dowd: Maga fans turn on Trump as he turns murky over Epstein files
Donald Trump
has become the deep state.
He is the keeper of the secrets. He is the one stealing away people's liberties. He is the one weaponising government and protecting the ruling class.
With Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the department of government efficiency, Trump deputised wolf packs to root around in Americans' personal information. He got
Republicans
to give Stephen Miller his own army. Trump manipulates government to hurt his perceived enemies. He obscures rather than reveals, pushing aside reporters who ask penetrating questions in favour of Pravda-like partisans who take his side.
Trump's supporters thought he would shed light on shady elites protecting their own money and power. Now Maga is reckoning with the fact that Trump is the shady elite, shielding information about
Jeffrey Epstein
.
READ MORE
'So the guy who spent his lifetime saying the deep state hides things from you and represses you is now saying, 'We've got nothing to hide, trust me,'' said Trump biographer Tim O'Brien. 'And the people who follow him don't. They think he's just as bad as the people he criticised before he became president.'
It's mythic, being devoured by the forces you unleashed. Trump has trafficked in conspiracy theories since the despicable 'birther' one about
Barack Obama
. Now that whirlpool of dark innuendo has sucked him down. He can no longer control the Epstein conspiracy madness inflamed by his top officials.
Trump always reminded me of Lonesome Rhodes, a charismatic, populist entertainer whose 'candid' patter with plain folks garners him enormous power in Elia Kazan's 1957 movie A Face in the Crowd.
At the finale, Andy Griffith's Rhodes – engorged by flattery and riches – has a narcissistic explosion. Not realising the woman he betrayed flipped on his microphone, he calls his loyal fans 'morons', 'miserable slobs' and 'trained seals'.
'I can take chicken fertiliser and sell it to 'em for caviar,' he crows, grinning.
Trump's Truth Social posts backing up Pam Bondi's claim that the Epstein files were much ado about nothing showed that same brutal disregard for his devout fans. They had taken him
seriously
? What fools!
He tried to subdue his Magacolytes – his 'boys' and 'gals' – by ordering them not to 'waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about'. He said that those who are focused on the 'Jeffrey Epstein hoax' are 'selfish people', 'PAST supporters' and 'weaklings' who had been 'conned by the Lunatic Left'.
If his fans couldn't focus on how great he was, better than 'perhaps any President in our Country's history', Trump pouted in a post, 'I don't want their support anymore!'
One 'gal', a Texan named Rosie, said she was brokenhearted. She replied on Truth Social that she has four daughters and 'can't even begin to comprehend the flipped narrative that 'it was so long ago' 'why are we still talking about this' and 'nobody should care.' These victims were some ones daughters, sisters, nieces, granddaughter. Someone's child. Please reconsider, sir.'
He has lost some of his base's trust by refusing to deliver the goods, or to acknowledge that he used people such as Kash Patel and Dan Bongino to whip up the frenzy against the paedophile who gave rides to Trump and Bill Clinton on his plane dubbed by some the Lolita Express.
Trump bonded with Epstein years ago, although it's not clear if Trump knew the extent of Epstein's predations. He told New York magazine in 2002 that Epstein 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side'.
This past week was the first time Trump had such a dramatic rift with his supporters, who are often compared to a cult.
Trump, who rose to power with the help of Fox News, threatened Emma Tucker, editor of Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, trying to stop its story about a bawdy letter and drawing he allegedly contributed to a 50th birthday book that Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for Epstein.
'I'm gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else,' he said in a call on Tuesday with the Journal. (
He filed the suit on Friday
.) He denied that he ever drew an outline of a naked woman with his name scribbled in a salacious spot, along with writing an insinuating wish to Epstein that 'every day be another wonderful secret'. (What had to be kept secret, Donald?)
'I don't draw pictures,' he wrote on Truth Social, denouncing the 'FAKE letter' in the 'Fake Story'.
But Trump's lies – such as the one about his uncle at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Unabomber – are falling apart almost instantaneously. It immediately came out that he was a 'high-profile doodler', as Tyler Pager put it in the New York Times, and that he donated drawings to charity in the early 2000s.
On Thursday, Trump posted that he had asked Bondi to produce 'any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval'. But judges usually keep such testimony secret. It was hilarious to see Trump hiding behind the judiciary he has tried to sideline.
The president, hoping to redirect the ire of the base back to its favourite chew toy, the mainstream media, posted that the Journal is a 'Disgusting and Filthy Rag'.
Natalie Winters, a reporter for Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, told Bannon that the Journal story made her feel 'gaslit' by the administration. 'I thought the DOJ had nothing related to Epstein,' she said. 'Well, this story sort of contradicts that. So why don't we release it? It's maddening.'
Twisting conspiracy theories into a Gordian knot of hate, Trump is claiming some Epstein files were 'made up' by Obama, James Comey, 'Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration' and 'Crooked Hillary'.
It's tough to blame the deep state when you are the deep state.
– This article originally appeared in
The New York Times
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Natural resource endowments more a curse than blessing for developing nations
The world's superpowers have developed a seemingly insatiable appetite for the critical minerals that are essential to the ongoing energy and digital transitions, including rare earth metals (for semiconductors), cobalt (for batteries), and uranium (for nuclear reactors). The International Energy Agency forecasts that demand for these minerals will more than quadruple by 2040 for use in clean-energy technologies alone. However, in their race to control these vital resources, China, Europe, and the US risk causing serious harm to the countries that possess them. As it stands, China is leading the pack — having gained ownership or control over an estimated 60-80% of the critical minerals that are needed for industry (such as for magnets) and the green transition. This control extends across the supply chain: China is heavily invested in mining across Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America, and has been building up its processing capabilities. For Western powers, China's quasi-monopoly over critical minerals looks like an economic and national-security threat. This fear is not unfounded. In December 2024, China restricted exports of critical minerals to the US in retaliation for US restrictions on exports of advanced microchips to China. Since then, US president Donald Trump has forced Ukraine to relinquish a significant share of its critical minerals to the US in what he presents as repayment for American support in its fight against Russia. Trump also wants US sovereignty over mineral-rich Greenland, to the dismay of Denmark. He has suggested that Canada, with all its natural resources, become America's 51st state. The EU, for its part, has sought its own mining contracts such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) — touted as the 'Saudi Arabia of critical minerals.' From the Scramble for Africa in the 19th century to Western attempts to claim Middle Eastern oil in the 20th century, such resource grabs are hardly new They reflect a fundamental asymmetry: Less industrialised developing economies tend to consume fewer resources than they produce, whereas the opposite is true for developed economies and, nowadays, China. In principle, this asymmetry creates ideal conditions for mutually beneficial agreements: Industrialised economies get the resources they desire and non-industrialised economies get a windfall, which they can use to bolster their own development. However, in reality, vast natural-resource endowments have proven to be more of a curse than a blessing, with resource-rich countries often developing more slowly than their resource-poor counterparts. A key reason for this is that developed economies have more economic clout, advanced technology, and military might — all of which they bring to bear to acquire the resources they seek. For example, European imperial powers used steam-engine technology to help them explore and exploit Africa for resources such as copper, tin, rubber, timber, diamonds, and gold in the 19th century. Fair compensation This — together with more advanced weaponry and other technologies — meant that, far from offering local communities fair compensation for their valuable resources, European powers could subjugate those communities and use their labour to extract and transport what they wanted. However, even countries that are exporting their resources for a profit have often struggled to make progress on development, not only because of imbalanced deals with more powerful resource importers, but also because their governments have often mismanaged the associated bonanzas. It does not help that resource-rich countries and regions often grapple with internal and external conflicts. Consider the mineral-rich provinces of the DRC, such as Katanga and North Kivu, which have long suffered from violence and lawlessness, fuelled by neighbors such as Rwanda and Uganda. Today, the advance of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels is fuelling bloodshed in eastern Congo, and creating an opportunity for outside powers to gain access to critical minerals. The DRC-Rwanda peace agreement brokered by the Trump administration promises precisely such access to the US in exchange for security guarantees. The resource curse is not inescapable, especially for countries with strong outward-facing institutions to manage the economy's external relations, including its resource sector's ability to attract investment and generate revenues for the state, and inward-facing institutions to govern how those revenues are used. If a country is to translate its resource endowments into economic development and improvements in human well-being, both have a critical role to play Outward-facing institutions must negotiate fair and transparent mining contracts with multinational corporations and strengthen local governments' ability to do the same. Such contracts should include local-content requirements, which keep more high-value-added processing activities at home, increase local employment, and strengthen the capacity of local suppliers and contractors. Since acquiring a 15% stake in De Beers, Botswana has sought to ensure that diamond cutting — not just mining — occurs domestically, which requires inward-facing institutions to deliver adequate investment in these capabilities. Inward-facing institutions must also manage risks raised by resource extraction, from health and environmental damage (deforestation, biodiversity loss, pollution) to labour rights violations (including child labour). Unfortunately, as it stands, many mineral-rich countries are falling far short, leading some to advocate boycotts of critical minerals coming from conflict zones or countries using forced labour. While such boycotts are unlikely to sway these governments, they could convince multinationals and foreign states to demand better enforcement of environmental and social standards from countries they deal with. Ultimately, it is up to mineral-rich countries to defend their interests and make the most of their endowments. This starts with strengthening institutions. Rabah Arezki, a former vice president at the African Development Bank, is director of research at the French National Center for Scientific Research and a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. Rick van der Ploeg is a professor of economics at the University of Oxford and professor of environmental economics at the University of Amsterdam. Project Syndicate, 2025 Read More Government must stand firm on Israel's illegal occupation and genocide in Gaza Strip
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
US attorney general told Trump his name is among many in Epstein files, Wall Street Journal reports
US attorney general Pam Bondi told president Donald Trump in May his name appeared in justice department files related to financier Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in prison, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing senior administration officials. Reuters was not able to immediately verify the Journal's report, which the White House characterised as 'fake news'. The newspaper's report threatened to expand what has become a political crisis for Mr Trump, whose past friendship with Epstein has drawn renewed scrutiny after his administration said it would not release the files, reversing a campaign promise. The justice department released a memo earlier this month that there was no basis to continue investigating the Epstein case, triggering a backlash among Mr Trump's political base, who demanded more information about wealthy and powerful people who had interacted with Epstein. READ MORE Mr Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein and has said their friendship ended before Epstein was first prosecuted. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. He had pleaded not guilty and the case was dismissed after his death. Under political pressure last week, Mr Trump directed the justice department to seek the release of sealed grand jury transcripts from the case. A federal judge denied that request earlier on Wednesday. While the White House immediately dismissed the report as fictitious, Ms Bondi and deputy attorney general Todd Blanche issued a statement that did not directly address the Wall Street Journal's reporting. [ Donald Trump sues Rupert Murdoch and Wall Street Journal publisher for $10bn over Jeffrey Epstein report Opens in new window ] 'Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution, and we have filed a motion in court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts,' the officials said. 'As part of our routine briefing, we made the president aware of the findings.' The Journal reported that Ms Bondi and her deputy told Mr Trump at a White House meeting that his name, as well as those of 'many other high-profile figures', appeared in the files. Last week, the newspaper reported that Mr Trump had sent Epstein a bawdy birthday note in 2003 that ended, 'Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Reuters has not confirmed the authenticity of the alleged letter. Mr Trump has sued the Journal and its owners, including billionaire Rupert Murdoch, asserting that the birthday note was fake. Since the justice department's memo, Mr Trump has faced growing frustration among his base of supporters, after far-right figures spent years promoting conspiracy theories – at times echoed by Mr Trump – about Epstein and alleged ties to prominent Democratic politicians. Epstein hung himself in prison in 2019, according to the New York City chief medical examiner. But his connections with wealthy and powerful individuals prompted speculation that his death was not a suicide. The justice department said in its memo this month that it had concluded Epstein died by his own hand. [ Top Republican Mike Johnson shuts US Congress early to avoid Epstein vote Opens in new window ] In a sign of how the issue has bedevilled Mr Trump and his fellow Republicans, US House speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday abruptly said he would send lawmakers home for the summer a day early to avoid a floor fight over a vote on the Epstein files. His decision temporarily stymied a push by Democrats and some Republicans for a vote on a bipartisan resolution that would require the justice department to release all Epstein-related documents. More than two-thirds of Americans believe the Trump administration is hiding information about Epstein's clients, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week. Wednesday's court motion stemmed from federal investigations into Epstein in 2005 and 2007, according to court documents. US district judge Robin Rosenberg found that the justice department's request in Florida did not fall into any of the exceptions to rules requiring grand jury material be kept secret. The justice department also has pending requests to unseal transcripts in Manhattan federal court related to later indictments brought against Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her conviction for child sex trafficking and other crimes. – Reuters (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the choices facing the EU: finding its place in a changing world
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa will be in Beijing on Thursday for an EU-China summit that is overshadowed by disputes over market access, export controls and Russia's war in Ukraine. Just over a week later, the United States is due to impose a 30 per cent tariff on goods imported from the EU, unless a deal is agreed before then. When Donald Trump announced his tariffs on about 60 countries and trading blocs four months ago, they looked set to push China and the EU closer together. But relations between Brussels and Beijing have deteriorated so sharply in recent weeks that China has scaled back this week's summit, which will now last for just one day instead of two as originally planned. The US, which at one stage imposed a 145 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, is now negotiating with China and Trump is expected to meet Xi Jinping later this year. Washington has lifted its ban on the export of some advanced semiconductors to China and Beijing has restored the supply of rare earth magnets to the US. For much of the 21st century, Europe could rely on Russia for energy, the US for security, and China as an export market. But Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago severed the EU's economic relationship with Russia, Trump has brought the US security guarantee into question and China has lost much of its appetite for high-end European products. READ MORE Most EU member-states now see Russia, which has the world's largest nuclear arsenal, as a potentially existential security threat if it prevails in Ukraine and they are ramping up defence spending accordingly. However, Trump's support for Ukraine is contingent at best and could be deployed as a bargaining chip if the EU responds aggressively to tariffs by using its Anti-Coercion Instrument to target US services, intellectual property rights and foreign direct investment. The EU's fear of Russia, its grievances against China and its anxiety about the US's intentions are all based in reality and Europe needs to become more self-reliant in defence while protecting its industrial base from Chinese competition. But its response to a rapidly changing geopolitical environment has too often been piecemeal, defensive and lacking in vision. Mario Draghi's report on competitiveness and Enrico Letta's on the single market last year offered bold blueprints for action to combat Europe's economic weaknesses. The EU needs similarly fresh thinking on its place in the world, the security architecture of the continent, the future of the transatlantic relationship, the rise of China and the growing importance of middle powers such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia in an increasingly multipolar world.
