Trump downplays US State Department's failure to release more Epstein files

As his supporters erupt over the Justice Department’s failure to release much-hyped records in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation, President Donald Trump’s strategy has been to downplay the issue.

“I don't understand what the interest or what the fascination is,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.

Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI abruptly walked back the notion there's an Epstein client list of elites who participated in the wealthy New York financier’s trafficking of underage girls. Trump quickly defended Attorney General Pam Bondi and chided a reporter for daring to ask about the documents.

The online reaction was swift, with followers calling the Republican president “out of touch” and demanding transparency.

A "boring case", according to Trump

Trump's comments to reporters Tuesday while returning to Washington from a brief Pittsburgh trip were just the latest in a days-long campaign to quell the uproar. He called the Epstein case “pretty boring” and said "the credible information has been given."

“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody.” he said.

Over the weekend, Trump used his Truth Social platform to attempt to call supporters off the Epstein trail amid reports of infighting between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino over the issue. He suggested the turmoil was undermining his administration — “all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”

That did little to mollify Trump's supporters, who urged him to release the files or risk losing his base.

"Credibility" issues

The political crisis is especially challenging for Trump because it’s one of his own making.

The president has spent years stoking dark theories and embracing QAnon-tinged propaganda that casts him as the only saviour who can demolish the “deep state."

Now that he's running the federal government, the community he helped build is coming back to haunt him. It's demanding answers he either isn’t able to or doesn't want to provide.

Asked Tuesday whether Bondi had told him his name was in the Epstein files, Trump said no. He praised her handling of the case and said she should release “whatever she thinks is credible."

But he also claimed there were credibility issues with the documents, suggesting without citing evidence they were “made up” by former FBI Director James Comey and former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, both Democrats.

Bondi declined to discuss the Epstein files Tuesday during a press briefing about drug trafficking.