After more than 10 years skating over every controversy and scandal, something sinister from President Donald Trump’s past appears to be catching up with him: His longtime friendship with the wealthy pedophilic sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Ever since Epstein’s 2019 arrest and suspicious death in custody, he has been a fixture of conspiracy theories. The most prominent theories allege that Epstein was an intelligence asset, working for either the US, Israel, or both, and that his function was to gather blackmail on powerful figures. Whether that’s true or not, two things are undisputed: Epstein was a pedophilic human trafficker who committed bizarre sex crimes on his private island, and he associated with numerous high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton, megabillionaire Bill Gates, and President Donald Trump.

Until recently, though, Trump has largely escaped scrutiny over his ties to Epstein. His MAGA base, which had been so obsessed with the story, put on blinders when it came to the two men’s relationship. They elected Trump, in part, because of their belief that he would blow the Epstein conspiracy wide open and incriminate their political enemies in an international sex trafficking ring. The “Epstein files,” as they’ve been dubbed, would be a smoking-gun list of names, financial transactions, and crimes perpetrated by prominent people in government and business, perhaps with photographic evidence. This belief was pushed by Trump Administration officials like FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, both former podcasters.

But when it came time to publicize information on the Epstein case, the Trump Administration began changing its tune. They reversed multiple promises to release the files and have shifted their story numerous times. Over the last several weeks they have claimed variously that they can’t release the files because they need to protect the victims, that there is actually nothing of any interest in the files anyway, and now, that the entire thing is a hoax.

Exactly what Trump means by “hoax” is unclear. He claims that the so-called “Epstein files” were written by high-level and deep-state Democrats, presumably to damage him. If that’s the case, it’s unclear why Democrats sat on the file for so long instead of using it against him in the 2024 election. The hoax line is more likely Trump’s attempt to prepare his supporters to reject anything that may implicate him in the case.

This line isn’t working yet, at least not on everyone. While the MAGA backlash has been overstated by some wishful-thinking media figures, some members of the coalition are having their faith tested by Trump’s reversals and erratic response, including his insistence that “nobody cares about” the Epstein case and that supporters who do care are falling into a trap laid by his Democratic enemies.

Most MAGA propagandists, though, have heard the call from the leader and fallen in line – quite literally. Charlie Kirk, who called on the Department of Justice to release all Epstein files on July 11, reversed himself days later after a phone call with Trump, saying on July 14 that he was “done talking about Epstein.” Ben Shapiro and Steve Bannon have similarly urged people to move on. Trump has meanwhile escalated attacks on supporters who want Epstein answers, calling them weaklings and saying, “I don’t want their support anymore!”

For now, Trump has settled into a lane of calling the case a hoax and trying to wash his hands of accountability. He has recently made superficial gestures toward allowing the release of anything pertinent or credible. Of course, it will be up to Charlie Kirk’s trusted “friends in the administration” to decide what is pertinent and credible before releasing anything.

Trumpstein’s Monster

Despite all the oxygen the case has received in conservative media, they’re still glossing over the elephant in the room: the myriad ties Trump himself has to Epstein. There may be good reasons for Trump to be nervous about the file and to try playing it off as a hoax. Below are just a handful of highlights of both his confirmed and credibly alleged ties to Epstein, along with some other creepy behavior and suspicious circumstances.

• Numerous photographs and video show Trump and Epstein hanging out. In one of these videos, Trump and Epstein are dancing together and ogling some girls.
• Trump previously gushed with praise for Epstein to the media, including this statement from a 2002 interview that hasn’t aged well: “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy… He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
• Epstein claimed that he and Trump were best friends for more than 10 years and provided other salacious details in a 2017 interview with Michael Wolff.
• Trump’s name appears seven times in the flight logs for Epstein’s private jet, the Lolita Express.
• When Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s head recruiter of underage girls and the right hand of his operation, was arrested in 2020, Trump simply said, “I wish her well.” 
• Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s more famous victims, met and was recruited by Maxwell while she was a teenager working at Mar-a-Lago. Giuffre committed suicide in April 2025.
• Trump owned both adult and teen beauty pageants, and once boasted that he felt free to barge into the dressing rooms of contestants whenever he felt like it.
• In the infamous Access Hollywood tape, Trump bragged he could approach any woman and “grab them by the pussy” due to his star power.
• More than 16 women have credibly accused Trump of sexual assault. One of these, E. Jean Carroll, was awarded $5 million in 2023 by a jury that found Trump liable for sexual assault. Another woman alleges Trump and Epstein tied her to a bed and raped her in 1994 when she was 13, but she withdrew her lawsuit after receiving unspecified threats.
• The Wall Street Journal uncovered a cryptic, creepy message Trump wrote for Epstein’s 50th birthday in which he doodles a naked woman and writes about a “wonderful secret.”
• Epstein’s second arrest, as well as his mysterious death in prison which sparked so much conspiracy theorizing, occurred during Trump’s first term.

None of Trump’s public associations with Epstein directly implicate him in anything criminal. And, according to all available knowledge, the two fell out around 2004, after which they had little if any contact. Nonetheless it’s a damning picture, one of an amoral man who feels entitled to take liberties with women’s bodies. This is someone who we shouldn’t be shocked to learn harbors even deeper, more depraved secrets that he wants to keep hidden.

The inevitable kiss-and-make-up

Of course, this isn’t the kind of thing MAGA wants to hear. Epstein was supposed to be their vehicle to take down the Clintons and the Democrats, not Trump. And as Trump tries to regain hold of the narrative around Epstein, his supporters do seem to be going along. Despite sensational media headlines reporting an enormous fracture in MAGA over Trump’s bizarre handling of the Epstein case, there is scant evidence of an irreparable rift. One poll even shows Trump has gained support from his base during this saga.

Indeed, it may all end up working out in Trump’s favor. As the negative news from hated media sources piles up, supporters will rally to his side. Even if the worst was revealed, the level of cope and self-delusion MAGA will put themselves through is seemingly limitless. They’ve been perfectly trained to reject anything anti-Trump instinctively, with a consistency that would be the envy of any dictator in history. As with so many toxic relationships, this little quarrel may only strengthen their commitment.

Of all the people known to have associations with Epstein, none seem to have had a more intimate or longer-lasting friendship than Trump. And he’s undeniably been proven wrong about one thing: People do care about this case and they do want to know the truth. Unfortunately, with Trump in charge of what does and doesn’t get leaked, and with he and his propagandists on FOX News and YouTube working at warp speed to muddy the waters, we are in probably the worst possible position to ever actually learn that truth. 

But for one, brief moment, Trump showed a bit of wobbliness. His grip on some of his supporters weakened and he lashed out at them like a petulant child. Maybe it opened some eyes. And perhaps, if the news gets bad enough and unavoidable enough, the loyalty of his supporters may not be as absolute as he once imagined.