President Donald Trump has long warned of a government ‘deep state.' Now in power, he's under pressure to expose it.
NEW YORK — As he crisscrossed the country in 2024, Donald Trump pledged to supporters that voting him back into the presidency would be 'our final battle.'
'With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state,' he said repeatedly on the campaign trail. 'We will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all.'
Four months into his second term, Trump has continued to stoke dark theories involving his predecessors and other powerful politicians and attorneys — most recently raising the specter of nefarious intent behind former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign papers. The administration has pledged to reopen investigations and has taken steps to declassify certain documents, including releasing more than 63,000 pages of records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Yet many of Trump's supporters say it's not enough.
President Donald Trump's latest pardons benefit an array of political allies and public figuresSome who take him at his word are beginning to get restless as they ask why his administration, which holds the keys to chasing down these alleged government secrets, is denying them the evidence and retribution they expected.
His Justice Department has not yet arrested hordes of 'deep state' actors as some of his supporters had hoped it would, even as the president has been posting cryptic videos and memes about Democratic politicians.
'People are tired of not knowing,' conservative commentator Damani Felder said on podcaster Tim Pool's show last week. 'We actually demand answers and real transparency. It's not that hard to deliver.'
Trump has long promised to dismantle the 'deep state' — a supposed secret network of powerful people manipulating government decisions behind the scenes — to build his base of support, said Yotam Ophir, a communications professor at the University at Buffalo.
'He built part of this universe, which at the end of the day is a fictional universe,' he said.
Now that Trump is in power and has stocked loyalists throughout his administration, his supporters expect all to be revealed. Delivering on that is difficult when many of the conspiracies he alleged aren't real, said Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist who studies conspiracy theories at the University of Miami.
To be sure, the president has prioritized retribution in his second administration. He has fired federal workers and targeted law firms he disfavors in executive orders. He has ordered the revocation of government security clearances for political rivals and former employees who dissented during his first term. His Justice Department has fired prosecutors who investigated him and scrutinized career FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Even so, Trump's administration hasn't gone as far as many of his supporters would like. They want to see steps taken against people he has long claimed were involved in sinister plots against him, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey. The administration also hasn't offered proof of the ' egregious crimes ' that Trump claims have corrupted the federal government for years.
Tensions erupted this month when FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, dismissed two of the unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that have animated Trump's base the most — that financier and sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in a cover-up, and that Trump's attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a government plot.
'You know a suicide when you see one, and that's what that was,' Patel said about Epstein's death in a Fox News interview.
'I have seen the whole file,' Bongino added. 'He killed himself.'
Conservatives online demanded to see the evidence, pointing to Bongino's past statements as a podcast host, when he suggested the government was hiding information about Epstein.
'No matter who gets elected, you get the same foreign policy, you get the same economic policy, and the Epstein videos remain secret,' right-wing podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on his show.
'They told us for months leading up to the Election that it wasn't suicide,' Newsmax host Todd Starnes wrote on X.. 'But now they tell us it was suicide.' He added: 'Pardon me, but what the heck is going on at DOJ?'
Attorney General Pam Bondi said this month that FBI officials were poring through 'tens of thousands' of videos related to Epstein and would make more materials public once they took steps to protect the victims.
In the same Fox News interview, Bongino and Patel said they had been briefed on the attempted assassination of Trump during a rally in July and there was no explosive conspiracy to be revealed.
'In some of these cases, the 'there' you're looking for is not there,' Bongino said.
Bongino appeared to try to throw a bone to Trump's base this week when he announced the agency would reopen some prominent cases that have attracted public interest. He said the FBI would investigate the planting of pipe bombs found near the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, the leak of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson draft opinion in 2022 that overturned the constitutional right to abortion and the discovery of cocaine in the White House in 2023.
But it wasn't enough for everyone who weighed in on his X account.
'Anything to distract from the Epstein files,' one user replied to his announcement. 'No results,' wrote another.
In an interview Thursday on 'Fox & Friends,' Bongino teased that the FBI would soon release video captured outside Epstein's jail cell and materials related to Trump's attempted assassination.
He said he understands the public's demands for transparency but called for patience and noted not all information is the FBI's to declassify. That didn't satisfy everyone who wants answers to the conspiracy theories.
'I am convinced that the deep state can only be defeated by God at this point,' Philip Anderson, a right-wing influencer who participated in the riot at the Capitol, wrote Thursday on X. 'Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, and Pam Bondi are completely useless.'
All the while, Trump has continued promoting conspiracy theories on his Truth Social platform and elsewhere.
He shared a video this month about mysterious deaths allegedly being linked to the Clinton family and shared someone's image of himself with former President Barack Obama with the text, 'ALL ROADS LEAD TO OBAMA, RETRUTH IF YOU WANT MILITARY TRIBUNALS.'
Ophir, the University at Buffalo professor, said it's a tactic that distracts Trump's base and helps inoculate him from criticism.
'When something good happens, it's because Trump is great and his agenda is brilliant,' Ophir said. 'When something bad happens, it's because of the Obamas or the Clintons or whatever forces are undermining him from within Washington.'
Trump this week fueled newer theories, without sharing evidence, that Biden's use of a mechanical device called an autopen during his presidency meant he didn't sign his executive orders willingly or that aides profited from controlling it. He has called for people who operated it to be charged with 'TREASON.'
The narrative has gained momentum on the right because of allegations that Biden's aides covered up his mental and physical decline. Presidents have used autopens for years to sign certain documents.
'Whoever used it was usurping the power of the Presidency, and it should be very easy to find out who that person (or persons) is,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
At least one user of his platform was unimpressed and questioned why Trump and his allies, holding all the power, still didn't have any answers.
'IF IT'S EASY,' the commenter posted. 'WHY HASN'T YOUR ADMINISTRATION FOUND THESE CRIMINAL'S ALREADY.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
18 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Senate to Keep Spectrum Sales in Tax Bill, Key Republican Says
A key Republican said senators have reached an agreement to reauthorize spectrum sales to internet companies that would generate billions of dollars in revenue toward funding US President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cuts and spending bill. Spectrum sales were included in the House version of the reconciliation package but the provision had drawn objections from South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds, who previously said they risked undermining the US military's communications capabilities.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump, Musk trade barbs as spending bill dispute continues
WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — President Donald Trump hit back at criticism from former adviser Elon Musk on Thursday, saying Musk knew what was in his 'big, beautiful' spending bill and only stopped supporting it once he learned of cuts related to electric vehicle funding. While meeting with new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said he was 'very disappointed' with Musk after the billionaire former supporter and adviser turned on the Republican-backed spending bill. 'I've helped Elon a lot,' Trump said. Musk, whose company Tesla is the nation's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, has called the bill a 'disgusting abomination.' 'We have a deal,' Trump says, after trade talks with China's Xi Trump said he was unsure if he would continue to have a great relationship with Musk, a powerful ally who has led efforts to reduce government spending. He suggested Musk misses being in the White House and has 'Trump derangement syndrome.' Trump said Musk hasn't said anything 'bad' about him but predicts 'that'll be next.' As Trump was speaking from the Oval Office, Musk posted to his social platform, X, 'Slim Beautiful Bill for the win.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A Harvard acceptance fulfilled a dream for a student in Ethiopia. Trump's order stands in his way
Winning admission to Harvard University fulfilled a longtime goal for Yonas Nuguse, a student in Ethiopia who endured the Tigray conflict, internet and phone shutdowns, and the COVID-19 pandemic — all of which made it impossible to finish high school on time. Now, it's unclear if he will make it this fall to the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He and other admitted students around the world are anxiously tracking the school's feud with the Trump administration, which is seeking to keep it from enrolling international students. The war in the country's Tigray region forced schools to close in many parts of the province. Nuguse, 21, took a gap year to study and save money to pay for his TOEFL English proficiency test in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. 'The war affected me a great deal and when I found out the news that I was accepted to Harvard, I was ecstatic. I knew it was a proud moment for my family, teachers, mentors and friends, who were instrumental in my achievement,' he said. Increasingly, the nation's oldest and best-known university has attracted some of the brightest minds from around the world, with international students accounting for one-quarter of its enrollment. As Harvard's fight with the administration plays out, foreign students are now navigating deep uncertainty and weighing other options. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a directive seeking to block U.S. entry for Harvard's international students. It marked the administration's latest effort to squeeze Harvard's foreign enrollment after a federal judge in Boston blocked the withdrawal of its certification to host students from overseas. 'Harvard will continue to protect its international students,' the university said in a statement. The standoff with Harvard comes as the administration has been tightening scrutiny of student visas nationwide. Thousands of students around the country abruptly lost permission to be in the U.S. this spring before the administration reversed itself, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week the U.S. would 'aggressively revoke' visas for students from China. 'It is one blow after another,' said Mike Henniger, CEO of Illume Student Advisory Services, who works with colleges in the U.S., Canada and Europe to recruit international students. 'At this point, international student interest in the U.S. has basically dropped to nil.' The future of Harvard's international students has been hanging in the balance since the Department of Homeland Security first moved to block its foreign enrollment on May 22. For many, the twists and turns have been exhausting. Jing, a 23-year-old master's student, is currently completing an internship in China this summer, and unsure if he can reenter the U.S. for the fall semester. 'It is tiring, we all feel numb now. Trump just makes big news headlines once every few days since he got back to the White House,' said Jing, who agreed to speak under his family name out of concern about retaliation from the Trump administration. Jing said he is going to watch and see what happens for now, in case the move against international students is a negotiating tactic that does not stick. The possibility that Trump could block foreign enrollment at other colleges only raises the uncertainty for students planning to pursue their education overseas, said Craig Riggs, who has been working in international education for about 30 years and is the editor of ICEF Monitor. He said he urges families to consult carefully with advisers and not to overreact to the day's headlines. 'The rules under which students would make this huge decision to devote years of their lives and quite a bit of money to studying at Harvard have been shown to change quite quickly,' Riggs said. An aspiring economist, Nuguse was the only student accepted to Harvard this year from Kalamino Special High School, which caters to gifted students from underprivileged backgrounds from across Tigray. After receiving acceptances also to Columbia University and Amherst College, Nuguse chose Harvard, which he had long dreamed of attending. He said he hopes it will work out to attend Harvard. Nuguse was granted a visa to study at Harvard, and he worries it might be too late to reverse his decision and attend another university anyway. He received an email from Harvard last week, telling him to proceed with his registration and highlighting a judge's order in Harvard's favor in the dispute over foreign enrollment. 'I hope the situation is temporary and I can enroll on time to go on and realize my dream far from reality in Ethiopia,' he said. ___ Associated Press writers Jocelyn Gecker and Cheyanne Mumphrey contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
