Weeks after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the Justice Department would not release further material into the investigation of disgraced financier and abuser Jeffrey Epstein, sparking great controversy and a flurry of threats among the MAGA base, the White House believes the storm has seemingly calmed. However, it remains unclear whether the anger has blown over, and Trump officials are reportedly plotting next steps to shape the narrative to their advantage.
The president's advisers have been clear that the storm has not yet passed, a new report from The Washington Post reveals. In fact, the most recent polling shows the public largely disapproving of Trump's handling of the Epstein case.
"I wouldn't say it's blown over," a senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, told The Post. "it's one of those things where, with a certain segment of the base, a very small segment of the base, it's never going to die down, no matter what."
According to the White House official, complaints from activists and angry voters have mostly died down. Hence, the president and his team are using the quiet time to keep his loyal voters on his side.
"We're not just sitting on our hands," the senior White House official said. "There are things happening that are not public. Just because they're not public doesn't mean things aren't happening."
Experts on the matter have attributed the sudden calmness around the issue to an unusual suspect— a Wall Street Journal story published earlier this month that said Trump in 2003 sent an explicit birthday letter to the infamous sex offender. The story led to Trump's loyal fan base to rally behind him, united through their disdain for mainstream media and the Murdoch family. The Journal story also led to the president to call for enough action to at least temporarily satisfy his base, the official said.
The White House official declined to elaborate on plans to shift the narrative, but Trump himself has offered a taste. Asked about Epstein on Friday, Trump pointed reporters toward Democratic men whose names have previously been reported as associates of Epstein, including former president Bill Clinton and former Harvard president and economist Larry Summers.
"You should focus on Clinton, you should focus on... the former president of Harvard," Trump said. "You should focus on some of the hedge fund guys. I'll give you a list. These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein. I sure as hell didn't."
Laura Loomer, a Trump ally and right-wing activist, also sought to point the finger at Democrats on Tuesday, criticizing what she said was hypocrisy by congressional Democrats and their "show of fake outrage over Trump and the Epstein files." She noted on X that a top Democratic donor, Reid Hoffman, had interacted with Epstein even after his 2008 guilty plea to a charge of child prostitution.
But despite the White House's efforts, it is clear that the issue has not yet been completely forgotten by Trump's voters. A Washington Post poll this week found that only 43% of MAGA Republicans approved of Trump's handling of the case, with 17% disapproving and 39% unsure. Among voters overall, 58% disapproved of Trump's handling of the case, while 16% approved and 26% had no opinion.
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