Trump Continues Fixating on Jeffrey Epstein

Trump’s Escalating Efforts to Distract from the Epstein Files

For nearly a month, Donald Trump has been making it abundantly clear that he wants the public to stop discussing Jeffrey Epstein and the administration's mishandling of the so-called Epstein files. His frustration has been evident in multiple ways. Three weeks ago, he snapped at a reporter during a White House Cabinet meeting when asked about Epstein. A week later, he warned his supporters that they could be excluded from the MAGA movement if they continued to bring up the scandal. Shortly after, he filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over a report revealing a lewd letter from Trump in Epstein’s 50th-birthday book.

During a recent golf trip in Scotland, Trump’s team took every opportunity to steer the conversation away from the controversy. They played the musical Cats soundtrack repeatedly and dismissed questions about whether his new EU trade deal was a distraction from the scandal with a dismissive “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me with that.”

Every few days, there seems to be another report detailing how Trump is frustrated, furious, or fuming over his administration’s inability to move on from the Epstein files. He and his allies have been working to introduce new distractions and promote other conspiracy theories to shift attention away from the crisis.

However, on Monday, Trump appeared more willing to discuss Epstein again. At his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, he was asked about what led him to cut ties with Epstein. He claimed it was because Epstein "stole people that worked for me."

At first, it wasn’t clear if one of the employees Trump was referring to was Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell while working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago when she was 17. On Tuesday, while speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump clarified that yes, that was exactly what he meant.

Reporter: Were some of the workers who were taken from you, were some of them young women?
Trump: Well, I don’t want to say. But everyone knows the people who were taken. And it was — the concept of taking people that work for me is bad. But that story has been pretty well out there, and the answer is yes, they were.
Reporter: What did they do?
Trump: In the spa. People that work in the spa. We have a great spa, one of the best spas in the world at Mar-a-Lago. And people were taken out of the spa. Hired, by him. In other words: gone. And other people would come and complain: “This guy is taking people from the spa.” I didn’t know that. And then when I heard about it told him, I said, “Listen, we don’t want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa.” I don’t want him taking people. And he was fine and then not too long after that he did it again and I said, “Out of here.”
Reporter: Mr. President, did one of those stolen persons, uh, does that include Virginia Giuffre?
Trump: Uh, I don’t know. I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her. And by the way she had no complaints about us. None whatsoever.

Trump’s Claims About Epstein’s Island

On Monday, Trump also brought up the fact that he “never had the privilege of going to” Epstein’s island. He seemed eager to name others who had visited, suggesting that he was trying to highlight the connections between Epstein and various high-profile individuals.

When asked about whether Attorney General Pam Bondi had informed him that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, Trump insisted, “I haven’t been overly interested in it.”

He also reiterated that he was allowed to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, who was interviewed in prison last week by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Additionally, Trump offered comments on his artistic abilities, acknowledging his drawings of buildings for charity but claiming he’s “not a drawing person,” or at least not one who draws women.

Avoiding Firing Key Figures

According to a report by the Washington Post, the reason Trump hasn’t removed anyone from his team over the Epstein files scandal—such as Bondi or FBI Director Kash Patel—is because he doesn’t want to fuel the crisis by firing someone.

This post has been updated.