Trump Keeps Making the Epstein Saga Worse
Donald Trump doesn't want you to read this article.
Don't let it go to your head, and I won't let it go to mine; we're not special. He doesn't want anyone reading anything about Jeffrey Epstein, or his own relationship with the late sex offender. And yet his intensive efforts to change the subject to something—anything—else seem to bring only more scrutiny.
This evening, CNN reported, a group of top administration officials, including the vice president, attorney general, FBI director, and White House chief of staff, had been planning to gather to discuss whether to release the recording of an interview between Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker and an Epstein associate, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Then, this afternoon, Reuters reported the meeting had been canceled, with Vice President J. D. Vance's spokesperson denying that it had ever even been planned. Yesterday, Republicans in the House subpoenaed the Justice Department for some records related to Epstein.
As the Epstein story's lock on headlines enters its second month, the president has employed three main tactics to try to dislodge it. First, he has ordered his supporters to stop talking about Epstein. 'Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker,' he wrote, part of a long and anguished Truth Social post on July 16. This has been somewhat effective in certain quarters: In the days after Trump's pleas, Fox News aired less coverage of the story.
Trying to stifle coverage this way has flaws. Much of the interest in Epstein originated in MAGA media itself, so claiming that these supporters fell for a hoax is dodgy—especially when the attorney general and the FBI director were among the foremost merchants of innuendo. And it almost goes without saying that screaming at people not to pay attention to a topic will only make them suspect there's something to see.
Some Trump-aligned outlets may be willing to take his lead, but other media organizations are not. A press that might have treated the Epstein story as either old news or somewhat prurient just a few months ago is now eager to find new information about it. Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald reporter who doggedly pursued the story, is the most desired guest on the podcast circuit. Just yesterday, The New York Times published photos of unclear provenance showing the inside of Epstein's Manhattan townhouse.
Second, Trump has tried to change the subject, whether that's attempting to breathe new life into his claims of a ' Russia hoax,' threatening to federalize the District of Columbia, or taking a walk on the White House roof. Distraction has long been an effective tactic for Trump, but it's also a familiar one. Trump's efforts have produced an amusing dynamic where no matter what he does, many people treat it as an attempt to distract from Epstein, which only points back to Epstein. Trump also keeps stepping on his own ploys. When the president announced the return of the Presidential Fitness Test last week, he invited the Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor to join him. But Taylor is a sex offender, having pleaded guilty in connection with paying a 16-year-old to have sex with him. This was not only a strange invitation on its own; it was also a reminder about Trump's former friend Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking of girls.
Third, the Trump administration and its GOP allies have tried to provide at least some information to the public, in the hope that it will sate appetites. Frequently, these moves have just whetted them. The Justice Department released what it said was 'raw' footage from the jail where Epstein died, only for Wired to report that the tape was, in fact, spliced. (Attorney General Pam Bondi attributed the missing footage to a quirk of the security-camera system, though government sources who spoke to CBS News disputed that explanation.) Blanche's interview with Maxwell is at least ostensibly an attempt to find new information, though it lends itself to further conspiracy theories about backroom agreements. This is especially true given Maxwell's unexplained move to a minimum-security prison shortly after the interview, as well as Trump's refusal to rule out pardoning her. House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for 'full transparency' about Epstein, yet he also adjourned the House rather than hold a vote on releasing files related to the case. The mystery of the reported planned meeting scheduled for tonight is more fuel for intrigue.
When Trump himself has spoken out recently, he has brought only more attention to the matter, to borrow his phrase. The president was evidently aware of Epstein's sexual proclivities—'It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,' he told New York magazine in 2002—but has said that he didn't know about Epstein's criminal activity. For years, reports indicated that Trump had fallen out with Epstein, a longtime friend, over a real-estate matter. Last week, however, Trump suggested that their clash came after Epstein 'stole' employees from Mar-a-Lago —possibly including Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser who died by suicide in April. This drew understandable outrage from Giuffre's family but also raised questions about what Trump might have known about Epstein's trafficking.
And when The Wall Street Journal reported on a letter the president had allegedly written to Epstein, Trump denied writing the letter but also insisted that he'd never made drawings—which elicited plenty of examples of past doodles, weakening his excuse. His splashy defamation lawsuit and demand to promptly depose the Journal 's owner, Rupert Murdoch, fanned the flames. (The paper says it stands by its reporting.)
Yesterday, I wrote about how Trump talks about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In that case, Trump's heated denials fed a belief among many of his critics that he must be hiding something. But the juiciest rumors did not prove true; the worst of the scandal had already been made public. Perhaps the same is true of Epstein: We already know that Trump was friends with him, and we already know that Trump was seemingly aware of his interest in young women. If Trump isn't hiding anything, though, he's not doing a good job of convincing the public of that.
Here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
Today's News
President Donald Trump announced that he will double tariffs on Indian exports to the United States to 50 percent by late August, citing India's continued purchase of Russian oil. The move aims to pressure Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Five soldiers were shot at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, in Georgia. The suspect is in custody, and the shooting is under investigation.
According to sources familiar with the plan, Trump told European leaders that he intends to meet with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to push for an end to the war in Ukraine, though it is unclear if the two have agreed to the meetings.
Evening Read
Enough With the Mom Guilt Already
By Maytal Eyal
As I inch closer to motherhood and all of the unknowns that come with it, I sometimes feel as if my entire future is suspended in midair: How might my personality shift? What will my child be like? How will my marriage change? In the midst of that uncertainty, therapy culture tells moms, You can ensure that your kid will grow up to be happy and healthy if … and then provides a guidebook of tips to read and details to obsess over. In a country where mothers receive so little structural support—where community has eroded, maternity leave is minimal, and child-care costs can be astronomical—the promise that parents alone can conjure all of the stability their child might need can feel like a warm hug. But really, that promise can be a trap.
To be clear, I'm not arguing that moms shouldn't work on their own mental health, or that they shouldn't think deeply about their approach to parenting. Rather, I worry that therapy culture prompts mothers to gaze obsessively, unhealthily inward, and deflects attention from the external forces (cultural, economic, political) that are actually the source of so much anxiety.
More From The Atlantic
Read. Elaine Castillo's second novel, Moderation, captures the numerous ways that screens help people hide from themselves, Sarah Rose Etter writes.
Watch. In 2020, Sophie Gilbert recommended 20 undersung crime shows to binge-watch.
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