Trump’s reversal with call to release Epstein files reveals inability to control Maga allies | Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to support the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is a sudden reversal, a rare example of the president failing to tame his Maga base and instead being forced to join him.

Many Republicans are expected to support a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives this week to force the justice department to release the files. Once the measure is approved, it will also need to be approved by the U.S. Senate; where 13 Republican senators will meet with all 47 Democrats to confirm.

Trump spent the past week aggressively pressuring his allies in the U.S. House of Representatives, including Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina. retreat They support the publication of files. Those efforts failed, and when it became clear the measure would pass, Trump supported it in an attempt to salvage an embarrassing political loss. “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide,” he said on the Truth Social network Sunday evening.

Maga’s base, including people in important positions in Trump’s administration, has been calling for the release of the Epstein files for years, claiming the existence of a conspiracy to protect the rich and powerful. Trump supported eviction as a candidate. But earlier this year the justice ministry said it was reviewing the files and would not release any more documents. This created more anger and pressure on Trump to release them.

The House oversight committee last week released some of the documents it obtained from Epstein’s estate, including messages in which Epstein wrote that Trump was aware of Epstein’s behavior. The messages also show Trump ally Steve Bannon advising Epstein on how to improve his image. Epstein also corresponded with other prominent individuals, including former treasury secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers; journalist Michael Wolff; And Kathryn RuemmlerFormer White House advisor to Barack Obama.

The release of these messages further increased scrutiny on Trump and increased pressure to release whatever the government still had on Epstein; This may be quite a lot, considering the number of federal investigations against him.

Some Maga influencers we called To shift the narrative away from Trump. Conservative radio host Megyn Kelly appeared to question whether Epstein was truly a pedophile. “There is a difference between a 15-year-old child and a 5-year-old child” he said on his podcast. epstein pleaded guilty Request made once in 2008 underage prostitute and faced federal sex trafficking charges against girls in 2019 As young as 14 years old. Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.

This issue sparked a bitter rift with Georgia House representative Marjorie Taylor Greene; He is increasingly being described as someone who is in touch with the real Maga base and refuses to blindly support Trump throughout the Epstein saga. “Publishing the Epstein files is the easiest thing in the world,” he said he told Politico on Friday. “Just let it all out, let the American people handle everything, and support the victims. It’s like the most common-sense, easiest thing in the world. But it doesn’t make sense to me to make any effort to stop it.”

Trump repeatedly attacked Greene over the weekend, calling her a “traitor,” among other insults. Greene condemned the president’s rhetoric in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “These are the kinds of words that could radicalize people against me and put my life in danger,” he said.

Later that evening, he posted on social media that he and his family had begun receiving fake pizza deliveries and that a pipe bomb threat had been made against his construction company. Printed on CNN He was evasive about why he was now speaking out against the president’s rhetoric after failing to condemn his similarly harsh rhetoric in the past.

“I’m only responsible for myself, my own words and my actions… and I’ve been working hard on that lately to get the knives down on politics,” he said. “I really want to see people be kind to each other.” During the interview, he also emphasized that he continues to support the president and his administration.

But whether Trump’s backtracking will effectively ease pressure from his base or whether he will continue to feel the heat (including from some of his most loyal allies) will be closely watched.