Trump leans on diversion tactics again. But Epstein files may test their limits.
As President Donald Trump continues to find himself in the middle of an unprecedented uproar among his MAGA base over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, he appears to be leaning into the strategy that has gotten him out of difficult positions so many times before: diversion.
In a matter of days, the president has threatened a stadium deal for the Washington Commanders if they don鈥檛 ,聽suggested that Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff , and聽filed a against The Wall Street Journal over a story related to his relationship with sex offender Mr. Epstein. His director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released 聽on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. She also says she has turned over documents to the Department of Justice for criminal referral that show the Obama administration was part of a 鈥溾�� to subvert the 2016 presidential election. The 鈥淩ussia hoax鈥� about foreign interference during that election was the 鈥�,鈥� Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social, along with another post of an AI-generated video of former President Barack Obama getting arrested in the Oval Office.
At a news availability with the president of the Philippines on Tuesday, Mr. Trump was repeatedly asked about Mr. Epstein. He responded by pivoting to allegations against Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election, saying 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the witch hunt you should be talking about.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
As President Donald Trump tries to quell an uproar within his base over his handling of the Epstein files, he鈥檚 using a tactic 鈥� diversion 鈥� that has bailed him out of difficult spots before. But this time, he may be promising revelations he can鈥檛 or won鈥檛 deliver on.
But so far, nothing is sticking. The attention 鈥� both in Washington and among his strongest supporters 鈥� remains on the Epstein story. And instead of distracting from the issue, Mr. Trump may actually be following the same pattern that got him into the current Epstein debacle in the first place, by promising dramatic revelations on other issues he can鈥檛 or won鈥檛 deliver on.
鈥淥ne of the reasons why so many people are upset about the Epstein case is because of the oversell,鈥� said conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on his podcast Monday. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e upset because the thing they were led to believe about the Epstein case, by many of the same people who are currently in power, it turns out that thing may not have been justified based on the evidence. 鈥� All I鈥檓 saying is, don鈥檛 do that again.鈥�
During the 2024 election, Mr. Trump campaigned on a promise to release revelatory documents on Mr. Epstein, the disgraced money manager and convicted sex offender who has been the subject of conspiracy theories since he died by suicide in 2019 while in jail on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors. And once in office, Mr. Trump directed some of his top administration officials to make the Epstein files, including a 鈥渃lient list鈥� of powerful people involved in Mr. Epstein鈥檚 crimes, public, to the cheers of his supporters.
Since the Department of Justice released a two-page memo July 7 stating that no client list exists, the president has urged his supporters聽to move on from Mr. Epstein. But they haven鈥檛. And the pushback has been too loud for Washington to ignore.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled the last day of voting and dismissed the House for August recess early, to avoid a vote on a bipartisan measure that would call on the Department of Justice to release all of its Epstein-related material. Mr. Johnson said he was giving the Trump administration 鈥渢he space鈥� to handle the issue, but in punting to September, he that would have made them go on the record against the White House or against their constituents鈥� demand for more information.
Brian Seitchik, a national Republican strategist who worked on the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns, told the Monitor that the Epstein case is a 鈥渟hort-term distraction.鈥� But Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who co-authored the measure and has since been the subject of the president鈥檚 attacks online, suggests the delay won鈥檛 work.
鈥淥ver the August recess, I think momentum will build for transparency,鈥� Mr. Massie . 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this is going to go away.鈥�
The White House has shown signs this week that they may agree with that assessment. Late last week, at the behest of Mr. Trump, the Department of Justice requested the unsealing of grand jury records in the case of Mr. Epstein and his convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. The judge responded Tuesday that he needs more information in order to do so.
On Tuesday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Ms. Maxwell鈥檚 lawyer announced in an online back-and-forth on the platform X that they were discussing聽 from Ms. Maxwell. Hours later, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee voted .
And while some of Mr. Trump鈥檚 supporters are frustrated with the president鈥檚 under-delivering on the Epstein case, others are exasperated by his focus on seemingly tangential issues.
鈥淲hy is that being brought back up?鈥� asks Trump voter Heather Connors, regarding Russia and the 2016 election. Ms. Connors, who works in special education in Virginia Beach, Virginia, says, 鈥淟et鈥檚 just move on. I鈥檓 more worried about my electric bill.鈥�
As the criticism continues, the only reprieve for Mr. Trump came over the weekend. On Friday, he sued The Wall Street Journal and its conservative media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, in a federal Miami court on two defamation counts for $10 billion apiece. In their court filing, the president鈥檚 team cited how quickly聽 about an alleged birthday letter to Mr. Epstein from Mr. Trump聽spread to millions of readers online. Conservative pundits and politicians who had previously been critical of Mr. Trump鈥檚 handling of the issue came to the president鈥檚 defense. Legal experts, however, say Mr. Trump鈥檚 case is weak.
鈥淭he [lawsuit] is a tactic to use to buy some time,鈥� says Mitchel Sollenberger, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. 鈥淭his is pretty much a modus operandi for Trump when it comes to his tactics for dealing with difficult stories. ... He goes on the attack, and I think that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e seeing here.鈥�
Another modus operandi for Mr. Trump is leaning on past grievances popular with his base when faced with a difficult political moment.
According to Mr. Trump and his allies, Democrats launched an investigation into Russia鈥檚 involvement in the 2016 campaign in an effort to discredit Mr. Trump鈥檚 win 鈥� a theory they refer to as the 鈥淩ussia hoax.鈥� In , Ms. Gabbard claims to have evidence that Mr. Obama and his intelligence officials knew that Russia never altered vote tallies and then suppressed related internal communications confirming so. But these officials never claimed that Russia hacked election equipment. Former special counsel Robert Mueller and the , which was chaired by Mr. Trump鈥檚 now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both found that Russia interfered in the U.S. election seeking to help Mr. Trump win .
If Mr. Obama or someone in his administration did something wrong, 鈥渢hen let鈥檚 charge them,鈥� said Sean Spicer, a former press secretary during Mr. Trump鈥檚 first administration, on the video platform 2Way. 鈥淏ut I just think our side continues to get people spun up on crap and then doesn鈥檛 do anything.鈥�
Monitor staff writer Caitlin Babcock contributed to this story.
