Donald Trump claims rising popularity despite criticism over Epstein files
Polling shows dissatisfaction with Mr Trump's latest attempts to address the Epstein controversy.
According to CBS News, President Trump's approval rating is now hovering at 42 per cent, down from 53 per cent in February.
Making matters more problematic for the White House are polls showing that Mr Trump 's numbers waning on the economy, overall job approval and even immigration, once a stronghold for the President.
"My poll numbers within the Republican Party and Maga [the Make America Great Again movement] have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein hoax was exposed by the radical left Democrats and, just plain 'troublemakers,'" he posted on Truth Social, his social media platform.
He insisted that his poll numbers have hit "90, 92, 93, and 95 per cent," adding that those numbers were "Republican Party records", though he didn't specify to which polls he was referring.
There has been a wave of criticism since the White House insisted there was no reason to release documents concerning Mr Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on charges of solicitation of prostitution, among other allegations.
The disgraced financier died in prison awaiting trial in 2019. His death fuelled conspiracy theories, particularly among the Maga movement, that Epstein was murdered to conceal the wealthy and powerful friends implicated in his crimes.
Mr Trump tried to turn the tide of public opinion by asking US Attorney General Pam Bondi to request a federal court to unseal Epstein's grand jury transcripts.
On Saturday, Mr Trump posted on Truth Social: "Even if the court gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough for the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request," he wrote. "It will always be more, more, more. Maga!"
During an appearance on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, who has previously pushed for the release of all files related to Mr Epstein, said President Trump's move unseal some of the transcripts was "a good start."
President Trump's recent request, however, falls short of Mr Burchett's recent push to release more files related to Epstein.
An amendment has been introduced in the House of Representatives to disclose many of the Epstein files and at least 10 Republicans have signed a petition in support of that.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar told CNN's State of the Union she remained sceptical of Mr Trump's recent decision to try to convince a judge to unseal some of the Epstein transcripts. "They promised that these documents would be out there," she said.
They gave people binders that said 'Part One' and now suddenly, with the whistleblower reporting that 100,000 documents were reviewed by the FBI to look for the President's name, they suddenly pulled back and said, 'No, we're not releasing them,'" she added, insisting that President Trump had backtracked on previous promises he made about the Epstein documents.
The controversy surrounding the US President and Epstein shows no sign of going away, especially with a decision from Mr Trump to sue The Wall Street Journal.
That litigation stems from a story published on Thursday about an alleged letter that Mr Trump wrote to Mr Epstein.
The newspaper said the message was part of an album of letters from friends collected for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003.
Mr Trump has repeatedly described The Wall Street Journal 's reporting as "false and defamatory". The newspaper has stood by the story.
The President's libel lawsuit against the publication is pursuing at least $20 billion. For several days now, it has been among the most read stories on The Wall Street Journal's website.
Back in June, during his falling out with a the one-time staunch supporter and Tesla tycoon, Elon Musk posted on X that Mr Trump had a major presence in the Epstein files.
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