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Trump slams his own supporters as ‘weaklings’ for falling for what he now calls the Epstein ‘hoax’

A mugshot of Jeffrey Epstein, former financier and convicted sex offender, is seen on a television at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 16, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 17 July 2025
AP
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Trump slams his own supporters as ‘weaklings’ for falling for what he now calls the Epstein ‘hoax’

  • Says they "haven’t learned their lesson ... even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years”
  • Accuses Democratic officials of tampering with the documents and promoting conspiracies about the Epstein files
Updated 17 July 2025
AP

NEW YORK: President Donald Trump is lashing out at his own supporters, accusing them of being duped by Democrats, as he tries to clamp down on criticism over his administration’s handling of much-hyped records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, which Trump now calls a “Hoax.”
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bull— — ,” hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote Wednesday on his Truth Social site, using an expletive in his post. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”
“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!” he went on. There is no evidence former

Democratic officials tampered with the documents or played any role in promoting conspiracies about the files, which members of Trump’s administration stoked for years.
The rhetoric marks a dramatic escalation for the Republican president, who has broken with some of his most loyal backers on issues in the past, but never with such fervor. Though Trump cannot legally run for another term, he will need strong support from a united party to pass his remaining legislative agenda in a narrowly-divided Congress and an energized base to turn out in next year’s midterm elections.
Dangled documents
The schism centers on the administration’s handling of documents related to Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI acknowledged in a memo that Epstein did not maintain a “client list” to whom underage girls were trafficked. They also said no more files related to the investigation would be made public, despite past promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi that had raised the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.
“It’s a new administration and everything is going to come out to the public,” she had said.
The reversal sparked fury among Trump’s most loyal defenders, who have turned on Bondi, in particular. But Trump has repeatedly said he maintains confidence in his attorney general and has instead chided those who continue to press the issue.
“I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is,” he said Tuesday, after unsuccessfully urging his “’boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals’” to stop wasting “Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”
In an Oval Office appearance Wednesday after the Truth post, Trump said he had “lost a lot of faith in certain people” as he tried to turn the page on the story.
“It’s all been a big hoax,” he told reporters. “It’s perpetrated by the Democrats, and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net.”
He complained that Bondi has been “waylaid” over her handling of the case and has given out all “credible information” about the wealthy financier. “If she finds anymore credible information she’ll give that, too,” Trump said. ”What more can she do than that?”
He continued to complain in a pre-taped interview with John Solomon that aired Wednesday evening on Real America’s Voice that the issue was distracting from his accomplishments.
“All my supporters want to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s a disgrace. ... I’m going to remember.”
While Trump has tried to blame Democrats for making Epstein an issue, he and many figures in his administration, including FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, spent years stoking dark and disproved conspiracy theories like those surrounding Epstein, including embracing QAnon-tinged propaganda that casts Trump as a savior sent to demolish the “deep state.”
Anger still brewing
Trump’s comments have not been enough to quell those who are still demanding answers. Some of the podcasters and pro-Trump influencers who helped rally support for Trump in the 2024 campaign said Wednesday they were disappointed or puzzled by his comments.
Far-right conspiracy theorist and podcaster Alex Jones called Trump’s handling of the Epstein situation “the biggest train wreck I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s not in character for you to be acting like this,” he said in a video Tuesday. “I support you, but we built the movement you rode in on. You’re not the movement. You just surfed in on it.”

Benny Johnson, a conservative podcaster, said on his show that he is a fan of Trump’s movement but is trying to “give tough love and speak on behalf of the base.”
“Maybe it hasn’t been framed correctly for the president,” Johnson said. “I don’t know.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, in an interview on Benny Johnson’s show Tuesday, had called for the Justice Department to “put everything out there and let the people decide.”
His first-term national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn implored Trump in a lengthy message to correct course.
“All we want at this stage is for a modicum of trust to be reestablished between our federal government and the people it is designed to serve. That’s all (PERIOD!),” he wrote. “With my strongest recommendation, please gather your team and figure out a way to move past this.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on his podcast attempted some damage control on Trump’s behalf.
“Don’t take too seriously this whole Truth Social here,” Kirk told his audience. “I know some people are getting fired up about this. I don’t believe he was trying to insult anybody personally.”
Still, he expressed frustration about the administration’s handling of the issue.
“We are now Wednesday going into Thursday. People are very, very confused, and some people are very disappointed and mad,” Kirk said. “We made so much progress with Gen Z, and this is a big vulnerability. Online, on TikTok, this story is not landing well. Let’s fix this, and we can.”
Other Trump allies have stuck by his side, suggesting he does not need the influencers who have capitalized on Epstein conspiracy theories to make money and earn viewers.
“He lent you his clout and voters,” Brenden Dilley, the head of a group of meme makers who have lent their support to Trump, wrote on X on Wednesday. “They don’t belong to you.”
Broader disapproval
While those speaking out represent a fringe of Trump’s most vocal online base, they are not the only ones dissatisfied with the government’s handling of the Epstein case, according to recent polling.
A CNN/SSRS poll, for instance, found that about half of US adults are not satisfied with the amount of information the federal government has released about the Epstein case. About 3 in 10 said it doesn’t matter either way and about 2 in 10 didn’t know enough to offer an opinion. Almost no one said they were satisfied with the amount of information released.
Looking ahead to 2026 midterm elections, some Democrats are clear-eyed that the Epstein files may not be a front-and-center issue for voters who tend to put a premium on kitchen table issues, but they see it as part of a broader pattern that could hamper Trump and the GOP.
“There is something breaking through to voters getting at this idea of a Republican Party working for these big, corrupt, wealthy, famous people and not fighting for their constituents,” said Katarina Flicker of the House Majority PAC, Democrats’ super PAC for congressional races.

Topics: Trump Returns Jeffrey Epstein Donald Trump MAGA

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Trump officials say Israel’s plans helped lead the US into Iran war

Updated 4 sec ago
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Trump officials say Israel’s plans helped lead the US into Iran war

Updated 4 sec ago
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration and its allies in Congress presented a shifting new justification Monday for the US attack on Iran, with House Speaker Mike Johnson suggesting that the White House believed Israel was determined to act on its own, leaving the president with a “very difficult decision.”
The Republican was speaking late Monday after a classified briefing at the Capitol, the first for congressional leaders since the start of the war, a joint US-Israel military campaign that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and has quickly spiraled into a widening Middle East conflict. Hundreds have died, including at least six US military service personnel.
Johnson said the attack on Iran was a “defensive operation” because Israel was ready to act against Iran, “with or without American support.” He said President Donald Trump and his team determined that Iran would immediately retaliate against US personnel and assets.
“The commander in chief has said this is going to be an operation that is short in duration,” Johnson said. “We certainly hope that’s true.”
The remarkable shift in the Trump administration’s stated rationale comes as the hostilities deepen and widen across the region. The president himself estimated the war could drag on for weeks. The administration plans to seek supplemental funds from Congress to support the military effort, lawmakers said, in stark contrast to the president’s America First campaign not to entangle the US in actions abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the “hardest hits are yet to come” as the US is determined to continue attacking Iran for as long as it takes with an “even more punishing” next phase in the war.
Rubio described what was essentially a potentially ripple effect that he said posed an “imminent threat” to the US
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” he said. “And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
Rubio said that while the US would like to see the Iranian people rise up and be rid of the regime, “that’s not the objective,” he said. “The objective of this mission is to make sure they don’t have these weapons that can threaten us and our allies in the region.”
Trump’s shifting rationale sparks detractors
Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials delivered the classified briefing as Congress weighs a war powers resolution that would restrain Trump’s ability to keep waging war without approval from the House and Senate.
Trump himself, speaking at the White House, laid out four objectives for the war, saying US forces are out to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, wipe out its naval capacity, stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensure “that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.”
“This was our last, best chance to strike — what we’re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.
Trump met repeatedly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they sought to curb Iran’s nuclear program, including last month at the White House.
Hegseth earlier Monday vowed this is not an “endless war,” even as he warned more US casualties are likely in the weeks ahead.
But Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said: “There was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel.”
Warner said he has now heard four or five stated reasons for the attack. He demanded that Trump “come before Congress, and for that matter, the American people,” to make his case for war — and the exit plan.
Several Democrats delivered blistering speeches against the war. “Are we now such an enfeebled nation that Israel decides when we go to war?” said Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, voice rising.
War powers as a check on presidential power
The moment is a defining one for Congress, which alone has the authority under the US Constitution to declare war, and for the Republican president, who has consistently seized power during his second term with his own executive reach.
Trump took the nation to war at a particularly vulnerable time, as the Department of Homeland Security is operating without routine funds because of a standoff with Democrats over their demands to restrain his immigration enforcement operations. The potential wartime costs in terms of lives lost and dollars spent are dividing the parties, and potentially Americans themselves.
Unlike the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003, which included long debates in Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, or the more recent US military strikes on Venezuela that proved to be limited, the joint US-Israel military attack on Iran, called Operation Epic Fury, is well underway, with no foreseeable end in sight.
“It’s worrisome,” Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told The Associated Press.
Smith said of Trump: “He is not trying to making his case to the Congress or the American people. He unilaterally decided to do this.”
In fact, Congress has declared war just five times in the nation’s history, most recently in 1941, to enter World War II a day after the Pearl Harbor attack. Over time, presidents of both major political parties have accumulated vast authority to engage in what are often more limited US military strikes.
Johnson said tying Trump’s hands right now would be “frightening” as he works to defeat the war powers resolution.
Even if Congress is able to pass the measure this week, the House and the Senate would be unlikely to tally the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a presidential veto.
Next steps for Iranian people uncertain
As the Trump administration encourages the Iranian people to rise up and choose new leaders, there did not appear to be widespread US support for any effort at democracy- or nation-building.
“We would love to see this regime be replaced,” Rubio said. “If there’s something we can do to help them down the road, we’d obviously be open to it. But that’s not the objective.”
A top Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he never bought into the you-break-it-you-own-it concept in wartime.
“If there’s a threat to America, deal with it,” he said over the weekend. “That doesn’t mean you own everything that follows.”

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