Latest news with #Maga-verse
New Statesman
15-07-2025
- Politics
- New Statesman
Donald Trump can't escape Jeffrey Epstein
Photo byOne of the biggest risks for the survival of any cult is when the leader starts making promises he can't keep. Doomsday prophets can get a few predictions wrong, but there are only so many times one can delay the apocalypse, reschedule the messiah's second coming, or postpone the spaceship before suspicions rise and sceptics start to leave. In the best-case scenarios, loyalty to the leader dissolves before his (and it's almost always his) familiar unravelling occurs – because then cults seem to inevitably devolve into drugs and child brides and weapon stockpiles and mass suicides. For those who want to see cult followers break free, it helps to nurture any seeds of doubt rather than jump to admonishment about how they should have known better. We should keep these lessons in mind as some Maga loyalists are now wondering why Donald Trump hasn't released the long-promised Jeffrey Epstein files. Trump has for years now promised to drain the swamp, and stoked suspicions about powerful and shadowy figures conspiring against the American people and their could-be saviour, Donald Trump. For reasons I will not pretend to understand, sex-trafficked children are core to Maga conspiracy theories, including QAnon. And so when Jeffrey Epstein, who had connections to some of the world's most powerful men and was accused of sex trafficking underage girls, died in prison in 2019 under odd circumstances in what investigators said was a suicide, well – it's not hard to see why the case was absolute conspiracy-bait. Trump and many high-profile members of his administration were happy to take advantage of their followers' fears by telling them that the Epstein case was an epic coverup, probably protecting various high-profile Democrats. They promised to dedicate significant resources to the Epstein case files, and to finally reveal the truth. A list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients, attorney general Pam Bondi said not so long ago, is 'sitting on my desk right now to review'. Before he was Trump's FBI director, Kash Patel told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that Epstein's 'black book' was 'under direct control of the director of the FBI'. But just a few days ago Bondi's Department of Justice and Patel's FBI released a statement saying that, in fact, there was no client list or black book, that they wouldn't be releasing much else about Epstein, and that everyone should move along. Given that Maga followers have repeatedly done whatever Trump asked and have denied obvious wrongdoing happening before their eyes, one can't really blame the administration for assuming they could guide their flock away from this potential quagmire as well. They were spectacularly wrong. This administration lies all the time; its members lie so often that it's hard for fact-checkers to keep up. Many people outside of the Maga-verse remain confused about how such a blatantly dishonest group of painfully unqualified people have not only weaselled their way into power, but enjoy the obsessive devotion of millions of Americans who are convinced that Trump and his lackeys are the answer to sleaze and corruption in Washington, not the ones taking both to new heights. The truth is that Maga devotees exist largely in the closed information universes of Fox News, One America News Network, Newsmax, right-wing podcasts, and their own tightly tailored social media algorithms, all of which hammer home the point that the mainstream media is one of many deadly enemies – and that enemies will lie in order to vilify Trump. But these same outlets have also spent years frothing over the admittedly extremely fishy Epstein case. They have turned the Epstein story into ground zero of conspiracy theories about a global cabal of paedophiles that extends from the British royal family to DC pizza parlours, and positioned Trump as the hero who would finally liberate the trafficked children, expose their abusers, and save the republic from the depraved elite. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Much of this is very obviously nuts. But some of the Epstein-specific questions do seem legitimate. How did Epstein amass such wealth and influence? How was he able to commit suicide despite being not only on suicide watch, but one of the most famous inmates on the planet? The Department of Justice released prison surveillance footage of the night Epstein died but it has only raised more questions. How is it that not only was no one apparently watching him, but the relevant security cameras seem to have malfunctioned at the critical moments? And now: what information is in the Epstein files that turned the Attorney General and the FBI director from people who declared that a nation-changing scandal was afoot into those who released a neutered memo concluding that 'no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted' in the case? What might have turned the president from a man who has encouraged Epstein conspiracy theories and into a person who now seems to have Epstein amnesia? 'Let's not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about,' the president implored on Truth Social. Except that Maga has spent years caring about Jeffrey Epstein very much. Over the weekend, some of Maga's most influential activists and talking heads gathered at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa Bay, Florida. When Fox News host Laura Ingraham took the stage, she asked audience members, 'How many of you are satisfied with the results of the Epstein investigation?' The crowd booed. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was even more direct: 'The fact that the US government, the one that I voted for, refused to take my question seriously and instead said 'Case closed. Shut up, conspiracy theorist' was too much for me,' he said. 'And I don't think the rest of us should be satisfied with that.' Democrats have an incredible opportunity here to sow more doubts among these burgeoning doubtful. Some are starting: California representative Ro Khanna attached an amendment to Republican-supported cryptocurrency and defence spending legislation that would have required the Department of Justice to release all their files on Epstein; Republicans blocked it, practically handing Democrats a pre-written midterm ad script. Other Democrats should similarly push Republicans to answer for the Epstein secrecy, and use this moment to encourage the growing chorus of questions. Right now, the ire is mostly aimed at Bondi, and Democrats shouldn't overplay their hand by expecting this to be the moment that Maga loyalists suddenly see their emperor stark naked. But liberals should publicly note: Trump is the President of the United States, his team works in his service, and he seems awfully eager for the Epstein files to go away. Why might that be? Are there other instances of inexplicable Trump behaviour that deserve a second look? Maybe accepting a new luxury jet to be used as Air Force One and then a personal plane, not from domestic manufacturers, but from Qatar? These would be good questions for Democrats to raise when, say, they appear on any Fox News show or conservative podcasts. Regular real-world liberals can do the same in personal conversations with Maga relatives or acquaintances. The key isn't to rant about Trump's corruption and how his administration is the swamp; it's to puncture the echo chamber, and seed doubts that conservatives can see repeated in conservative media and among their conservative cohort. Powerful cults rarely see a mass exodus of followers even after a big promised event fails to take place. But America doesn't need Maga to fall apart entirely; we just need enough followers to come to their senses to turn Trump's base from GOP mainstream to laughingstock fringe – or at least enough to allow Democrats to trounce Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. Trump gained popularity by appealing to the angry, the resentful, and the paranoid. He spoke to them in the language of conspiracy and coverup. His followers are suspicious of nearly all of those in power, except, of course, Trump himself. How satisfying it will be when more of them start to realise that the man who promised to drain the swamp is actually the king of it. [Further reading: The plot against Zohran Mamdani] Related
The Guardian
16-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Maga since forever': mercenary mogul Erik Prince pushes to privatize Trump deportation plans
Silicon Valley has played a sizable part in the early days of Donald Trump's new administration, but another familiar face in the Maga-verse is beginning to emerge: businessman Erik Prince, oft-described by his critics as a living 'Bond villain'. Prince is the most famous mercenary of the contemporary era and the founder of the now defunct private military company Blackwater. For a time, it was a prolific privateer in the 'war on terror', racking up millions in US government contracts by providing soldiers of fortune to the CIA, Pentagon and beyond. Now he is a central figure among a web of other contractors trying to sell Trump advisers on a $25bn deal to privatize the mass deportations of 12 million migrants. In an appearance on NewsNation, he immediately tried to temper that his plan had any traction. 'No indications, so far,' said Prince about a federal contract materializing. 'Eventually if they're going to hit those kinds of numbers and scale, they're going to need additional private sector.' But the news had people wondering, how is Prince going to factor into the second Trump presidency? Sean McFate, a professor at Georgetown University who has advised the Pentagon and the CIA, said: 'Erik Prince has always been politically connected to Maga, the Maga movement, and that's going back to 2015.' Prince, himself a special forces veteran and ex-Navy Seal, is a known business associate of Steve Bannon, the architect of Trump's first electoral win. Prince even appeared with him last July at a press conference before Bannon surrendered to authorities and began a short prison sentence for defying a congressional subpoena. 'He comes from a wealthy Republican family,' said McFate, who has authored books on the global mercenary industry and is familiar with Prince's history. 'His sister, Betsy DeVos, is the former education secretary, and he's been a Maga, not just a Maga, he's been a Steve Bannon, Maga Breitbart Republican, since forever.' Beginning during the two Bush administrations, Blackwater was a major recipient of Pentagon money flowing into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But a massacre in Baghdad at the hands of some of his contractors led to prison sentences, congressional inquiries and blacklistings of the firm. Years later, Trump would come to the rescue: pardoning all of the Blackwater mercenaries involved in the massacre. Now, with the current administration, which is doling out free advertising to Elon Musk and other Maga loyalists, Prince has a new and familiar ally in Washington. 'This is a big market time for him,' said McFate. 'He's very quiet when there's a Democrat in the White House and gets very noisy when a Republican, especially Trump, is in the White House; I expect this to be one of many things he will try to pitch.' Do you have tips about private military contractors or the world of Erik Prince? Tip us securely here or text Ben Makuch at BenMakuch.90 on Signal. McFate said Prince is nothing if not an 'opportunist' and an 'egotist' with a penchant for getting into media cycles. 'If Trump or somebody says 'That's an interesting idea,' he will pump out a PowerPoint slideshow proposing an idea, whether or not he can do it,' he said. Prince also has the ear of Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and was a character witness for her Senate confirmation. There's no denying Prince is a relentless pitchman, offering world governments billion-dollar plans to privatize wars or other less expensive espionage activities. For example, he was recently named to the advisory board of the London-based private intelligence firm Vantage Intelligence, which advises 'sovereign wealth funds' and other 'high-net-worth individuals'. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Post-Blackwater and under new companies, he has proposed missions in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Congo, Libya and, purportedly, Venezuela – a country he often mentions as ripe for overthrow on his podcast, Off Leash. A senior commander in an alliance of former Venezuelan soldiers who defected from the Chavista regime told the Guardian his organization has been asking Prince for help against the country's current president, Nicolás Maduro. 'We have sent messages to Mr Erik Prince to try to see if we can meet,' said Javier Nieto Quintero, a Florida-based former captain in the Venezuelan military and leader of the Venezuelan dissident organization Carive. 'If he wants, we can provide help, support in terms of information, intelligence, or any other area based on the freedom of our country.' Nieto Quintero, who said Prince has yet to respond, and Carive was used in a failed operation against Maduro in 2020 led by a former Green Beret. In what is notoriously known as the 'Bay of Piglets', six of Nieto Quintero's men were killed and close to 100 captured, including two former US servicemen recruited for the job who were freed two years ago from a Caracas prison. Prince's eye has undoubtedly been focused on Venezuela, a country with vast oil reserved that has long been in the crosshairs of Trump's retinue. In recent months, Prince has supported a Venezuelan opposition movement called Ya Casi Venezuela, claiming to have raised more than $1m for it over the summer. The Maduro regime is now investigating Prince's links to the campaign, which it paints as a sort of front for western governments fostering its downfall. Venezuela has reason to fear Prince and his connections to American spies: the CIA, with a rich history of covert actions in Latin America, was at least aware of a plot to overthrow Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chávez in 2002. 'We were in contact with Ya Casi Venezuela, but a meeting never took place,' said Nieto Quintero. 'We have continued to grow and strengthen our ranks and our doctrine, our plans, our institutional, military, security and defense proposals.' Prince is officially active in the region. Last week, Ecuador announced it would be partnering with Prince in a 'strategic alliance' to reinforce the country's controversial 'war on crime' with his expertise. Prince did not respond to a request for comment sent through his encrypted cellphone company, Unplugged. Ya Casi Venezuela did not answer numerous emails about its relationship with Prince. As of now, no business deal between the Trump administration and Prince has been signed or publicly disclosed. But across his career as both a shadowy contractor and a political figure, who just graced the stages of the latest Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to applause and then spoke to Harvard Republicans, the public and private sides of Prince remain somewhat antithetical. 'He likes to be in the news, which makes him a very bad mercenary,' said McFate. 'Frankly, most mercenaries I talk to in Africa, the big ones, despise him.'
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Stephen Colbert on Trump's second term: ‘The last five weeks have been shock and awful'
Late-night hosts took aim at Donald Trump's disastrous start to his second term as president and looked at the rising cost of food. On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about his expectations versus his reality of Trump's comeback, saying that the president has done 'every terrible thing I could imagine' but that 'I just never imagined he'd do all of them at once.' He said: 'The last five weeks have been shock and awful.' Things have got so bad, he added, that even those within the Maga-verse have been getting 'buyers' remorse', with reports of unhappy Trump voters. Colbert said it was 'kinda hard to feel a lot of sympathy' for them, though. 'They ordered the turd soup then said: 'Waiter, there's turds in my soup' and then they came back four years later and asked: 'Do you still have that turd soup?'' he joked. While Trump had promised that prices would go down on day one, his supporters 'still think things are too expensive'. The last few weeks have seen 'Elon slice through the federal government like a drunk raccoon with a samurai sword'. Colbert moved on to the soaring price of eggs, which may still go up even further by 41%. 'This year's Easter egg hunt is going to be The Purge,' he said. Stores in New York have been selling loose eggs for those who can't afford a full pack and customs agents have stopped at least 90 people from smuggling them into the country. Colbert said that the head of the smuggling operation is 'Pablo Eggs-cobar'. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! the host also spoke about how bad things have quickly become under Trump, joking that he was 'tired of all the winning'. He said that 'no one seems to know what the hell is going on' with Elon's ongoing 'chainsaw massacre of the federal workforce'. He spoke about an email sent to federal workers asking them to share five things they accomplished last week or face job loss while also talking about Republican senators demanding a meeting with the White House chief of staff to complain about cuts. The Department of Veterans Affairs has seen 1,400 jobs cut, which is a 'tricky situation for Trump' as 'we know he doesn't think much of veterans but he loves affairs'. He said that Elon had been 'just about as efficient as a Cybertruck in 2in of snow'. This week has seen the far-right Republican Lauren Boebert tweet that she didn't realise how much 'distain' she had for many of these departments. 'Maybe let's not get rid of that Department of Education just yet,' Kimmel said. The Federal Aviation Administration also cancelled its major contract with Verizon to instead sign with Starlink, a company owned by Elon Musk. 'Nothing shady about that at all,' he said. Giving Musk government contracts is 'like putting Pac-Man in charge of fruits'. The Trump administration also claimed it would release the full list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients and flight logs this week but instead just released 'binders full of information everyone already had', which led Kimmel to say: 'Everything these people do is screwed up.' He remarked that the craziest thing is that Trump was 'good friends' with Epstein, something his followers have chosen to ignore.
